Employee Benefits Open Enrollment is ending in two days. Now is the time to make changes to your benefits, enroll in a medical and/or dependent care flexible spending account (FSA) for 2020, and attest to your and your spouse’s 2019 tobacco-use status.
Find what you need by visiting the Employee and Retiree Service Center’s (ERSC) Open Enrollment web page. There you will find links to the information you need to make the decisions that are right for you and your family. Then, if you are making changes to your benefits or enrolling in an FSA, visit the Employee Self-Service (ESS) web page and click on Open Enrollment to access the Benefits Enrollment System (BES). If you only need to make your tobacco attestation and are NOT making benefit changes or enrolling in an FSA, click on Tobacco attestation on the ESS web page.
If you will be covered in 2020 by an MCPS-provided medical insurance plan with CareFirst or Kaiser Permanente, you MUST attest during Open Enrollment to your and your spouse’s (if you are married) 2019 tobacco-use status. You will pay a 25 percent surcharge on the total cost of your health insurance if—
- you do NOT attest to your and your covered spouse’s tobacco-use status; or
- you attest to one or both of you NOT being tobacco-free throughout 2019.
Remember: Tobacco-users who complete the Quit for Good tobacco cessation program can have the surcharge waived and, depending on when the program is completed, refunded. Learn more.
Don’t forget! Enroll in your 2020 medical and/or dependent care FSA by November 1, 2019. You will receive confirmation of your new elections within minutes. Even if you are enrolled in an FSA for 2019, you must re-enroll for 2020 if you wish to continue your participation.
Some tips on submitting benefits changes
- The BES is experiencing very heavy volume during these final days of Open Enrollment. As a result, you may experience a slower connection. Please log in to the system as soon as possible.
- Please do not submit paper enrollment form(s). They will NOT be accepted.
What happens after I submit my changes?
You will receive a benefits confirmation statement of your changes while still logged in to the system. You also will receive confirmation in your MCPS Outlook email account.
All changes submitted during Open Enrollment will take effect on January 1, 2020.
