We hope this message finds you well and that you had a restful Thanksgiving break. As you are aware, our existing health care plans will be changing and benefit premiums increasing for most employees in 2025. We understand these increases are concerning and want to provide you with a clear explanation of the reasons behind these adjustments.
Why Are Premiums Increasing?
- Rising Health Care Costs : The cost of health care continues to rise nationwide. This includes the prices of medical services, prescription drugs, and other health-related expenses. These increases impact the overall cost of providing health benefits to our employees.
- Increased Claims : Over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number and cost of claims. This trend affects our overall expenses and necessitates adjustments to ensure the sustainability of our benefits program.
- Self-Insured Plan : As a self-insured organization, we directly cover the cost of our employees' health care claims that are not covered by premiums. This approach allows us to have more control over our benefits program but also means that fluctuations in health care costs and claims directly impact our expenses.
What Are We Doing to Contain Costs?
To mitigate the impact of these increases, we have added a third health care plan, adjusted co-insurance and out-of-pocket maximums for our existing plans, and we implemented a salary-tiered premium structure.
- Benchmarking : Ithaca College partnered with our broker, NFP, to conduct a comprehensive survey of other regional institutions to assess the competitive landscape for talent. This valuable data informed the strategic decision-making process for benefit plan design and premium structure adjustments. By leveraging these insights, Ithaca College ensures that its benefit offerings remain competitive and aligned with peer institutions.
- Addition of a third health care plan option
- Changes to existing plans
- Salary-tiered premium structure
We understand that changes to your health care benefits can be difficult, and we are committed to supporting our employees through this transition. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to the HR Help Desk and one of our HR representatives will follow up with you.
Thank you for your understanding and continued dedication to Ithaca College.
Contact the Office of Human Resources
Request HR Help | humanresources@ithaca.edu | (607) 274-8000
Ground Level of PRWC