If you work for JCPS, please read this!
By Tracy L. Hirsch
Find out if you’re one of the 4,000 JCPS employees who may be getting double-charged for your 2019 insurance plans, and what to do about it.
What you should be aware of right now.
It was recently brought to my attention by my friend that she, along with a few thousand other Jefferson County Public School employees, are being charged for two dental plans and two vision plans this year. The only way to know if you are one of them is to look at your pay stub or log into your online employee portal.
Since most JCPS employees have direct deposit, and therefore may not look closely at their pay stubs or bank accounts, I want to encourage you to look at your most recent pay stub and log into your online employee portal to see if you’re one of the employees who is currently enrolled in all four plans.
Those who are currently enrolled for two dental and two vision plans should have received a letter from JCPS, telling them that they are currently enrolled in a JCPS vision plan (EyeMed Vision) and a KY State vision plan (Anthem Vision), as well as a JCPS dental plan (Delta Dental) and a KY State dental plan (Anthem Dental). The letter also outlines how to rectify the situation.
How this happened.
For those who have dependents, they noticed a large increase in what was taken out of their paycheck at the start of this year (compared to last month), and started asking questions.
It turns out that employees were instructed by JCPS to log into their online employee portals at the end of 2018 (during Open Enrollment) to verify that they didn’t want to make changes to their health, dental, or vision plans for 2019.
When employees logged in, some of them saw the option to add a dental plan and vision plan, and assumed that they weren’t currently enrolled in one since they were being asked if they wanted to enroll in the State vision and dental plans (i.e. Anthem Vision and Dental).
Since employees were never required to log into their portals every year for insurance purposes in the past, many employees interpreted the prompt inside the portal to mean that, from here on out, they would have to manually add dental and vision plans to their healthcare plans.
That actually wasn’t the case, but because it was unclear, over 4,000 employees enrolled for the State (Anthem plans) in their employee portals, and are now being charged for both of the State (Anthem) plans and both of the JCPS plans.
Basically, JCPS was giving employees more dental and vision options, but didn’t make it clear that if an employee were to choose the State (Anthem) dental and vision plans, that they would have to cancel the JCPS dental and vision plans (which they were automatically enrolled in) in order to not be charged for all four plans.
Double check your pay stubs to see if there’s a noticeable difference in your net income. If there is, you may be double enrolled in two vision plans and two dental plans.
What this means (and how it might be affecting you).
This means that, as stated above, all JCPS employees were automatically enrolled in JCPS’s employee vision and dental plans for 2019 (as they have been in years past), and that those who manually added the State (Anthem) vision and dental plans from their portal accounts are now being charged for all four plans.
If you are one of these employees, this means that every single month in 2019, you will be charged for two different vision plans and two different dental plans when you obviously only need one of each.
If you want to avoid being charged for the State (Anthem) dental and vision plans that you manually added in your employee portal, you can have them removed. Here’s how:
What to do about it.
You should have received a letter in the mail a few weeks ago from JCPS informing you that you are currently enrolled in two dental plans and two vision plans for 2019, and are therefore being charged for four plans total.
In the letter, it states that in order to only stay enrolled in one dental plan and one vision plan, here’s what you need to do immediately:
1.) Decide which plans you want to keep and which ones you don’t.
> To see the benefits of the JCPS plans (EyeMed Vision and Delta Dental), go to:
Jefferson.kyschools.us> Employees > Benefits > Benefits and Plan Information > Voluntary Benefits >*select “dental” or “vision”*
> To see the benefits of the Anthem plans (Anthem Vision and Anthem Dental):
Kehp.ky.gov > Benefits > Dental, Vision, Life Insurance >*select “dental” or “vision”*
2.) Contact the JCPS Benefits Department to request the appropriate forms for cancelling your unwanted plans. There are three ways to contact them:
> E-mail your Benefits Coordinator
- Elementary Coordinator: Carie Lamb (Lamb@jefferson.kyschools.us)
- Middle School and High School Coordinator: Regina Bradley (Bradley@jefferson.kyschools.us)
- > Call the JCPS Benefits Department at (502) 485-3436.
- > Stop by the Benefits Department located in the VanHoose Education Center.
3332 Newburg Road
2nd Floor
Louisville, KY 40218
Hours are Monday – Friday from 7:30 am – 4:30 pm. No appointment is necessary.
Please share this information if you have friends or family members who work for JCPS, as this could save them from overpaying several hundred dollars this year!
**[If you are part of the JCPS teacher’s union, and feel that you should be reimbursed, contact your union representative. If you have any additional questions, be sure to use one of the contact methods above, as our law office is not employed by or affiliated with JCPS.]**
>> This blog post was written in January of 2019. <<