Benefit Changes for 2012-2013

Health Insurance Rates for 2012-2013
The Insurance Committee has recommended that the Agency renew its health insurance contract with Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield for the 2012-2013 plan year. The renewal will mean an 11.26% increase in rates. Heartland employees will continue to take advantage of the 48% network discounts negotiated by Wellmark on medical charges. These discounts are considerably better than the discounts offered through other providers.

Plan Design Changes
The medical plans will remain relatively unchanged for the new plan year with the exception of the drug plan. Last year Wellmark informed the Insurance Committee that adding a Tier 4 to the drug plan for “convenience drugs” would help employees make wiser drug selections. Although it had initially been Wellmark’s plan to only include convenience drugs in Tier 4, many drugs that did not fit that description were also included. That was not the original understanding or intention of the Committee. So the Tier 4 level has been eliminated. You are still encouraged to talk to your doctor about trying less expensive generic drugs in place of higher brand names.

Benefit Meetings
This will be the Agency’s seventh year with Wellmark, and since the plan is relatively unchanged, we will not be holding benefit meetings this spring.

Wellness Lunch & Learn
We will be holding a wellness lunch and learn on April 18 from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Conference Rooms 13 A & B in the REC building in Johnston, and we hope you will all be able to attend. Dr. John Amspaugh, a family medicine physician from Urbandale, will be explaining what our “numbers” mean. Those of you who got your physical and did your well-being assessment will now be equipped to learn what those numbers mean and how to get them moving in the right direction. Whether you completed the well-being assessment or not, we think you’ll find it very helpful to understand what your doctor means when he/she tells you your LDL is too high or you need to reduce your blood pressure. Feel free to bring your lunch. There will be plenty of time for your questions. If you’re not able to come in person, we’ll be providing an option that will allow you to view the program live from your office or to view it at a later date on the Intranet.

Medical Flex Spending Change
Under Healthcare Reform, the maximum amount you can elect for the 2012-2013 plan year has been reduced to $2,500 per person.

Benefit Enrollment
Online benefit enrollment will be available on your Employee Dashboard from April 2, 2012 through April 25, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. Even if you have no changes to your benefit selections, all full-time employees are asked to complete their online enrollment. More information will be coming about this soon.

If you have individual benefit questions or concerns, please contact Kathy Martin, Benefits Specialist, at ext. 14385 or kmartin@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Competent Private Instruction Worksheet

Click here to download the Competent Private Instruction Worksheet. It has been created as a fill-able pdf form and should be included with special education requests for home schooling. Please contact your regional director if you have any questions.

AEA Legislative Update

Click here to read the weekly legislative update from the AEAs’ lobbyists, Matt Eide and John Pederson, of the Eide & Heisinger firm. We have been delayed in bringing you these updates, but plan to bring them to you for the rest of the legislative session.

Retirement Reception for Dick Geil

Join us for a reception as we honor Dick Geil (Accounting/Budget Specialist/JO) as he retires from the Agency.

March 27
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Administration Center lounge