Monday, March 14, 2011
Always Protect Your Personal Items While at Work
An agency staff member believes that two of her credit cards were stolen while she was at work last week. This incident serves as an unfortunate reminder that staff members need to protect their personal items at all times, even at work. There are many people going in and out of our offices, which can create more opportunities for these types of incidents to occur. So please protect your items, both in your vehicles and at your desks.
Change in Schedule for Telephone Upgrade for Adel & Ames
Due to some difficulties this morning (March 14), the phone system upgrades for the Adel and Ames offices have been moved to Wednesday (March 16). The schedule for that day will be communicated with staff in those areas as soon as it is known. Thank you for your patience as we do these important upgrades.
Setting the Agency’s Direction Update
Remember that updates about the future of the Agency can be found on the Setting Direction blog at http://direction.aea11.k12.ia.us. There won’t be a blog update this week due to spring break, but click here to find a one page summary from the Leadership & Learning Planning Council of the Agency’s setting direction work, including agency goals. Note that the document is a draft in progress.
AEA Legislative Report
Click here to download the weekly legislative report from AEA Government Relations Specialist Wayne Haddy.
2011-2012 Benefit Changes
Health Plan
Heartland will again be offering the Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield health plan for the 2011-2012 year. The overall increase in rates will be 10.15%.
This is an open enrollment year. This means that you may bring on eligible family members to both your health and dental coverage, to be effective July 1, 2011. We do not plan to have another open enrollment year for three years.
Changes:
• One routine/preventive colonoscopy ordered by your doctor will be paid at 100% regardless of whether a medical diagnosis is made during the colonoscopy. Currently, if a medical condition is diagnosed during the procedure, it goes towards your deductible.
• Due to changes in health care reform, in-network chiropractic care (now paid at $10 per visit) will be paid at 85%, as any other in-network office visit.
• Routine vision exam done at an in-network doctor (now paid at $10 per visit) will be paid at 85%, as any other in-network office visit.
• We have added a Tier 4 for convenience drugs. Convenience drugs are those that combine two drugs to make an expensive convenience drug. Wellmark is trying to discourage the use of these costly alternatives, and in fact, have eliminated them altogether for their own employees. However, they’ll be available to you, but at a higher co-pay. All Tier 4 drugs have a $75 co-pay, after you have met your $100 prescription deductible. Click here for a list of drugs that are currently on the Tier 4 drug list. We will continue to offer Tier 1 generics at $5 with no deductible. Tier 2 and 3 will be offered at $20 and $35, respectively, after an annual $100 deductible per person has been met. No individual should ever pay more than one prescription deductible of $100 per calendar year. There is a maximum of two deductibles per family or $200 total.
If you are currently taking a prescription for a Tier 4 drug, you may want to talk to your doctor now about trying a less expensive alternative.
• Due to changes in health care reform, the $5 million lifetime limit per person will be changed to unlimited.
• Smoking cessation consultation will be covered at 100% under preventive care (only with your PCP).
Delta Dental
• No changes in rates or coverage.
EyeMed Vision
• The insurance survey reflected three years of dissatisfaction with the EyeMed vision coverage. Feedback indicated you could get similar benefits without paying premiums by using a coupon or taking advantage of a sale. You also told us you were unhappy with the network of doctors and the difficulty you had coordinating a Wellmark provider for your routine vision exam and an EyeMed provider for your glasses or contacts. Because of this, our voluntary vision coverage through EyeMed will be discontinued June 30.
• If you currently carry the EyeMed voluntary vision insurance and are eligible for new lenses or frames (24 months since you purchased frames under the plan, 12 months since you purchased lenses under the plan, and 12 months since you purchased contact lenses under the plan), be sure to look into getting your vision hardware before June 30.
• The Insurance Committee will be searching for a vision plan with richer benefits that is accessible to all our employees. In the meantime, a vision discount plan will be offered this year. This plan uses EyeMed providers and is offered through our dental plan. It is free of charge to any full-time employee. There is no limit on the frequency of purchasing lenses or frames, and discounts such as 30% off of all frames and single vision lenses for $75 are some of the benefits that will be available after July 1. More information on how to take advantage of these discounts will be coming soon.
Take advantage of the in-person benefit meetings, benefit videos and other benefit materials available on the Intranet under the Benefits tab to learn more about your benefits. If you have any questions please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385.
Heartland will again be offering the Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield health plan for the 2011-2012 year. The overall increase in rates will be 10.15%.
This is an open enrollment year. This means that you may bring on eligible family members to both your health and dental coverage, to be effective July 1, 2011. We do not plan to have another open enrollment year for three years.
Changes:
• One routine/preventive colonoscopy ordered by your doctor will be paid at 100% regardless of whether a medical diagnosis is made during the colonoscopy. Currently, if a medical condition is diagnosed during the procedure, it goes towards your deductible.
• Due to changes in health care reform, in-network chiropractic care (now paid at $10 per visit) will be paid at 85%, as any other in-network office visit.
• Routine vision exam done at an in-network doctor (now paid at $10 per visit) will be paid at 85%, as any other in-network office visit.
• We have added a Tier 4 for convenience drugs. Convenience drugs are those that combine two drugs to make an expensive convenience drug. Wellmark is trying to discourage the use of these costly alternatives, and in fact, have eliminated them altogether for their own employees. However, they’ll be available to you, but at a higher co-pay. All Tier 4 drugs have a $75 co-pay, after you have met your $100 prescription deductible. Click here for a list of drugs that are currently on the Tier 4 drug list. We will continue to offer Tier 1 generics at $5 with no deductible. Tier 2 and 3 will be offered at $20 and $35, respectively, after an annual $100 deductible per person has been met. No individual should ever pay more than one prescription deductible of $100 per calendar year. There is a maximum of two deductibles per family or $200 total.
If you are currently taking a prescription for a Tier 4 drug, you may want to talk to your doctor now about trying a less expensive alternative.
• Due to changes in health care reform, the $5 million lifetime limit per person will be changed to unlimited.
• Smoking cessation consultation will be covered at 100% under preventive care (only with your PCP).
Delta Dental
• No changes in rates or coverage.
EyeMed Vision
• The insurance survey reflected three years of dissatisfaction with the EyeMed vision coverage. Feedback indicated you could get similar benefits without paying premiums by using a coupon or taking advantage of a sale. You also told us you were unhappy with the network of doctors and the difficulty you had coordinating a Wellmark provider for your routine vision exam and an EyeMed provider for your glasses or contacts. Because of this, our voluntary vision coverage through EyeMed will be discontinued June 30.
• If you currently carry the EyeMed voluntary vision insurance and are eligible for new lenses or frames (24 months since you purchased frames under the plan, 12 months since you purchased lenses under the plan, and 12 months since you purchased contact lenses under the plan), be sure to look into getting your vision hardware before June 30.
• The Insurance Committee will be searching for a vision plan with richer benefits that is accessible to all our employees. In the meantime, a vision discount plan will be offered this year. This plan uses EyeMed providers and is offered through our dental plan. It is free of charge to any full-time employee. There is no limit on the frequency of purchasing lenses or frames, and discounts such as 30% off of all frames and single vision lenses for $75 are some of the benefits that will be available after July 1. More information on how to take advantage of these discounts will be coming soon.
Take advantage of the in-person benefit meetings, benefit videos and other benefit materials available on the Intranet under the Benefits tab to learn more about your benefits. If you have any questions please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385.
2011 Benefit Meetings and Communication
We want to thank you for taking the time to complete the Insurance Survey in January. In response to the feedback we received, we will be offering additional means of communication specific to insurance changes for the 2011-2012 year.
You told us it would work well if we could give you a variety of ways to learn about your benefits because every person is different. You also said that the best way to inform you about benefits was by offering an in-person meeting. Therefore, we will be offering benefit meetings, benefit videos on the Intranet, personal e-mails about once a quarter to focus on specific benefit changes or problems, and articles in The Connection. We hope you will offer us feedback next January on how each of these worked for you and what suggestions you might have for the future.
All in-person benefit meetings are optional and will be two hours in length. We have tried to offer a variety of locations so that no staff member will have to drive more than 40 minutes in order to attend. However, you may attend any of the meetings listed below.
April 8, 2 – 4 p.m., Annunciation Parish Hall, 723 Elm Street, Coon Rapids
April 11, 2 – 4 p.m., Newton Public Library, 100 N. 3rd Ave West, Newton
April 13, 2 – 4 p.m., Conference Rooms 3 & 4, Johnston Regional Education Center
April 14, 2 – 4 p.m., AEA office, Ames
April15, 2 – 4 p.m., AEA office, Indianola
April 22, 2 – 4 p.m., Conference Rooms 13 A & B, Johnston Regional Education Center
We hope you will choose the education method that works best for you to make sure you are well informed about your benefits. If you have questions about your benefits or the benefit meetings, please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385.
You told us it would work well if we could give you a variety of ways to learn about your benefits because every person is different. You also said that the best way to inform you about benefits was by offering an in-person meeting. Therefore, we will be offering benefit meetings, benefit videos on the Intranet, personal e-mails about once a quarter to focus on specific benefit changes or problems, and articles in The Connection. We hope you will offer us feedback next January on how each of these worked for you and what suggestions you might have for the future.
All in-person benefit meetings are optional and will be two hours in length. We have tried to offer a variety of locations so that no staff member will have to drive more than 40 minutes in order to attend. However, you may attend any of the meetings listed below.
April 8, 2 – 4 p.m., Annunciation Parish Hall, 723 Elm Street, Coon Rapids
April 11, 2 – 4 p.m., Newton Public Library, 100 N. 3rd Ave West, Newton
April 13, 2 – 4 p.m., Conference Rooms 3 & 4, Johnston Regional Education Center
April 14, 2 – 4 p.m., AEA office, Ames
April15, 2 – 4 p.m., AEA office, Indianola
April 22, 2 – 4 p.m., Conference Rooms 13 A & B, Johnston Regional Education Center
We hope you will choose the education method that works best for you to make sure you are well informed about your benefits. If you have questions about your benefits or the benefit meetings, please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us or ext. 14385.
2011 Amendments to Iowa’s Administrative Rules of Special Education
The State Board of Education recently made technical and conforming changes to Iowa’s rules. Since those changes are not numerous, the Iowa Department of Education is providing this insert for your copies of the 2010 rules. Underlines are additions and strikethroughs are deletions. Click here to download the document. If you have any questions, contact Grace Bargstadt, Director of Special Education, at gbargstadt@aea11.k12.ia.us.
New Online Databases for 2011-12
There is a change in the online databases that will be offered in 2011-12. Teachers will have more engaging and age-appropriate resources to integrate in their units. Students will have easy access to multimedia and e-text for just-in-time learning. Parents will have homework helpers readily available. Find more information at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/library/OnlineDatabases.
Note that Britannica Digital Library replaces World Book. Gale eResources replaces part of EBSCO. CultureGrams is new. SIRS Issues Researcher is new. The following databases have been available to you for a couple of years and are now available statewide: BookFLIX, Teen Health & Wellness, Soundzabound, Atomic Learning’s ATT and 21st Century Skills. Due to an increase in price, DEStreaming will not be offered statewide--stay tuned for more information and options for accessing that content. Workshops on how to integrate these resources in teaching will be offered. Promotional materials for students and parents will be available this summer.
Note that Britannica Digital Library replaces World Book. Gale eResources replaces part of EBSCO. CultureGrams is new. SIRS Issues Researcher is new. The following databases have been available to you for a couple of years and are now available statewide: BookFLIX, Teen Health & Wellness, Soundzabound, Atomic Learning’s ATT and 21st Century Skills. Due to an increase in price, DEStreaming will not be offered statewide--stay tuned for more information and options for accessing that content. Workshops on how to integrate these resources in teaching will be offered. Promotional materials for students and parents will be available this summer.
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