Current Health Insurance News and Information

 

 

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Employee Assistance Program (EAP): employees and everyone in their household can access free resources for help with personal concerns--emotional, marital, financial, interpersonal addiction and recovery, legal, stress, and more.

 

IRS 1095-B Health Coverage Statement for tax year 2022

FOR KAISER MEMBERS:

The form 1095-B that you will need to file your taxes will be sent to you from Kaiser if you're a Kaiser member. This form doesn't come from SRJC.

  • Employees will also be able to access their tax forms online once Kaiser completes it:

  • Go to kp.org/proofofcoverage and click on kp.org/mytaxdocs

  • Sign into your Kaiser Permanente account

  • To narrow the results, click on Coverage & Benefits on the left-hand side of the screen

  • Click on the document heading MEC (PDF) in the list of documents remaining

FOR BLUE SHIELD MEMBERS:

The form 1095-B that you will need to file your taxes comes from SISC PPO if you're a Blue Shield member. This form doesn't come from SRJC.

 

Retiree information on 1095-B reporting

Companion Care and Kaiser Senior Advantage members are excluded from this reporting. For more information on Medicare and the 1095-B reporting, you may visit the Medicare website: Medicare and IRS Form 1095-B.

 

IRS 1095-C information

The deadline for employers to provide employees with Form 1095-C is March 2, 2023, so if you are considered a full-time employee under the ACA guidelines, you could expect to receive the 1095-C form from SRJC by March.

 

Open Enrollment

For regular employees, Open Enrollment is every year for medical and vision insurance from August 1 to August 30. The change goes into effect October 1. Open Enrollment for Dental Insurance is once every three years. The next Dental Open Enrollment is in 2024. Click here for Open Enrollment information for regular employees.

 

For Associate Faculty employees, Open Enrollment is every year for medical insurance from August 1 to August 30. Click here for Associate Faculty Open Enrollment information.

SISC COVERAGE OF AT-HOME COVID-19 TEST KITS

On January 10th, the Biden Administration announced that it will require insurance companies and group health plans to cover the cost of at-home COVID-19 tests for the remainder of the public health emergency.  Effective January 15, 2022, the SISC health plans are covering over-the-counter (OTC) FDA authorized COVID-19 tests purchased for personal use.  The OTC COVID-19 test kits will be covered at a reimbursement rate of up to $12 per test, with a limit of eight tests per covered individual every 30 days.

 

SISC Anthem and Blue Shield Members:

  • Demand for test kits has soared. There will likely be shortages of test kits available for purchase at pharmacies.
  • If a network pharmacy happens to have test kits available, then members may get their test kits at the pharmacy counter with no out-of-pocket costs at the point of sale.

 

SISC Kaiser Permanente Members:

  • Kaiser Permanente will reimburse members for FDA-approved rapid antigen home tests purchased on or after January 15th. Members may log into their KP.org account and submit a reimbursement claim here: KP Member Reimbursement.  
  • Kaiser Permanente, like other health care organizations, has access to a very limited supply of tests.  As the supply of tests increases, Kaiser Permanente is working to make them available to their members through a number of outlets, including mail-order. Visit www.kp.org/coronavirus for the most up-to-date information on supply, testing, and vaccinations.

 

Due to likely shortages of test kits available for purchase, we want to make members aware of other ways to get FDA-approved rapid antigen home tests:

  • Every home in the US is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests delivered to their home. Visit https://www.covidtests.gov/ for more information and to order tests.
  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is providing up to 50 million free, at-home tests to community health centers and Medicare-certified clinics for distribution at no cost to patients and community members. A list of community-based sites that provide low or no-cost testing can be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/community-based-testing-sites/index.html

 

Additional information regarding federal government support for school-based COVID testing can be found here: Testing in Schools Fact Sheet Jan 2022.

 

FLU SHOTS

SISC Blue Shield Members:

  •  Costco Pharmacies – Walk-in flu shots are available at all Costco pharmacy locations (no membership required). Click here for the flyer.
  •  Network Pharmacies – Walk-in flu shots are available at pharmacies such as Rite Aid and CVS. Members interested in this option may contact Navitus at 1-866-333-2757 to locate participating pharmacies. Click here for the flyer.

SISC Kaiser Permanente Members:

OPEN ENROLLMENT

Open Enrollment is every year for medical and vision insurance from August 1 to August 30. The change goes into effect October 1. Open Enrollment for Dental Insurance is once every three years (next in 2024).