Benefits 101
First time enrolling or just looking for a quick refresh on how it all works?
Some important terms you should know
Benefits can be tricky, but they don’t have to be. Take some time to learn the basic terminology, how different plans work, which benefits can work together to best fit your needs, and just take the guesswork out of benefits enrollment.
Looking over health plan options for the first time can be intimidating, and it’s also easy to forget some of the terminology. Below are some of the primary elements of a health plan. Of course there are more, but here are some of the basic terms you should know before diving in:
- Premium: The amount you pay each pay period, in the form of payroll deductions, to have insurance coverage.
- Deductible: The amount you pay before the insurance company covers a cost.
- Copayment (Copay): A fixed amount you pay to cover the costs of certain medical and pharmacy services.
- Coinsurance: The percentage you pay of the total cost of covered services.
- Out-of-pocket maximum: The maximum amount you’ll pay for covered health services in a single calendar or plan year, including your deductible, copay, and coinsurance. The Affordable Care Act restricts insurance carriers from charging you more than this amount.
- Beneficiary: An individual who may become eligible to receive payment due to will, life insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, trust, or other contract.
To learn more about the above terms click here to watch the video, Benefit Terms Explained.
Check your eligibility
A law called the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires companies with 50+ full-time employees to offer medical coverage to all full-time employees working 30+ hours per week and their dependent children up to age 26.
- Full-time teammates’ benefits are effective first of the month following or coinciding with the start of their employment. Most full-time teammates must work an average of at least 30 hours per week to be eligible for all benefit plans
- Part-time teammates who have a change in status to full time are eligible for benefits the first of the month following the day they become full-time.
You can enroll and make changes only at certain times
There are three circumstances when you can enroll or change your enrollment. You have an opportunity to enroll when you are first hired. If you don’t enroll then, you have to wait until open enrollment, a limited window each year when you can choose new plans and add or drop dependent coverage.
Outside of those times, you can make changes only as a result of certain events in your life. For example, if you have a new baby, you can add the baby to your coverage. If you are married and your spouse has employer-provided benefits, your spouse’s open enrollment permits you to make an election change in your benefits plan.
Eligible life events include:
- Marriage
- Divorce or Annulment
- Dissolution of Domestic Partnership
- Legal Separation
- Birth of a dependent
- Adoption / placement for adoption
- Gain of other coverage
- Loss of other coverage
Ready to enroll or submit your changes?
When you’re ready to enroll, take time to review the options on this website and the benefits guide to compare plans to find the coverage options that best meet your health and financial needs.
If you need to enroll, make changes, or find benefits info such as your ID card, visit UKG.
To register, go to UKG:
- Enter your full RP email address as the username (ex. howser@radpartners.com)
(ARA, Desert Radiology, or Windsor Radiology: enter your practice-specific email address as the username) - Password: your date of birth as: mmddyyyy
- Follow the prompts to receive and enter an access code, change your password, and establish security questions (when prompted to change your password at this step, your ‘current password’ is your DOB)
- Once registered, login and navigate to Menu > Myself > Manage My benefits
After following these steps to initially log in, teammates with RP email addresses as their username should also be able to access UKG via the single sign-on web address previously provided (ukgdirect.radpartners.com) or via their desktop icon (if available on their computer).
You may need to restart your computer before single sign-on will resume working. For those able to use single sign-on, please plan to do so as your standard route to access UKG. For anyone unable to use single sign-on, you will continue to be able to access UKG via the link provided in step 1 above.
Things to consider before choosing a health plan
- Do you prefer certain doctors or hospitals? If you want to keep seeing your current provider(s), you should make sure they are in the plan’s network of your choice. You can find out by visiting the plan’s website, calling the insurance carrier, or even checking with your doctor’s office to see if they accept a particular insurance plan. Consider if your preferred doctors are in- or out-of-network and what would be your overall costs when you choose your plan.
- What are your usual healthcare needs? Do you visit a chiropractor or get acupuncture? Do you have frequent doctor or urgent care visits? Do you have a condition that requires the care of a specialist? Do you take prescription medications? Look at your benefits materials and plan documents to compare how each plan covers the services you need the most.
- Consider the bottom line. How much is your share of the monthly premium? Do you have to meet a deductible before the plan will pay? Can you offset expenses with a tax-free account such as an HSA or FSA? These factors can impact your true healthcare costs. The lowest premium plan may not be the least expensive plan for you, and conversely, the highest cost plan is not always the “best” plan for your needs.
