1. Administrator’s Form March 9, 2010

2. Change! Things do not change; we change. Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1970) Okay, well sometimes things do change, but we need to change with them!

3. No paper No benefits open enrollment packets No fancy booklets No Esther IDs and PINs distributed We will be mailing a postcard reminder to your home address Open enrollment is April 12 – April 30, 2010 Don’t procrastinate! Rice Fest is Tuesday, April 20 th in the RMC/Ley Student Center

4. No paper Please be sure you know your Esther ID and PIN (or use the “Forgot PIN?” button before contacting HR) We will send a basic booklet to employees who are not typically at a desk all day (FE&P, H&D, Delivery Services, RUPD, and Transportation) More will be available in HR More information online and new, updated web content coming soon

5. Medical plan Rates are going up! We’re still trying to figure out by how much Hopefully, in the increase will only be in the single digits Plan designs are probably changing Our plans have been the same for 7+ years Given the increasing costs, the copayments will need to change slightly to keep premium rates lower and reflect the increasing cost of health care More information coming soon…

6. Why are health costs increasing? We negotiated a two year rate guarantee for Aetna’s administrative rates last year Our own medical claims expense is driving the cost up Prescription drugs Medical plan usage High-tech treatments Use of the emergency room

7. Other changes? Most of the other health and welfare plans will remain the same. Look for changes with short-term disability plan Retirement plans remain the same

8. What can you do to help? Spread the word about benefits open enrollment “going green” What about medical plan costs? Monitor your use of the medical plan See if you can use get a generic prescription drug See if you can use mail order services for your regular medications Think about your use of the emergency room Can it wait until tomorrow? Can I be seen in an urgent care clinic? Take care of yourself (and participate in wellness programs) Use the web (http://benefits.rice.edu) for open enrollment information and tell us what you think! Coming soon (once the changes are finalized)