Part-time Local 7902

The Aetna Select EPO will continue to be available to part-time faculty. Plan design features and covered services will be the same for calendar year 2024. The EPO plan emphasizes preventive care, providing those services at no cost to covered members.

The Aetna presentation on our medical, dental, vision, and prescription plans is available online.

Healthcare Plan Contributions

The university continues to offer a comprehensive benefits package for our community while managing increases to medical premiums. This includes our commitment to supporting part-time faculty by absorbing 50 to 80 percent of the total premium cost. 

As a result of rising healthcare costs due to inflation, there will be an increase in employee contributions for 2024. Please refer to the 2024 contribution chart. 

Flexible Spending Account
The IRS has not announced new limits for calendar year 2024 yet. The projected Healthcare FSA limit for 2024 is $3,200; the Dependent Care FSA will remain at the $5,000 limit. For 2024, the projected rollover is $640 of unused Healthcare FSA monies into 2024. 

We've created this guide to help you navigate the MyDay system and manage your Open Enrollment elections.

To access your Open Enrollment Benefit Event, log in to MyDay and click on the Inbox worklet (circle). Locate the Open Enrollment Benefit Event and carefully follow the help text on each screen. The Benefits Open Enrollment period will end on Friday, November 17.

You do not need to take any action if:

• You (and your currently enrolled dependents, if any) want to continue to be enrolled in the EPO that you have in 2023
• You (and your currently enrolled dependents, if any) want the same dental plan that you have in 2023
• You do not want to make a 2024 Health Care or Dependent Care FSA election

The Aetna Select EPO will continue to be available to part-time faculty. Plan design features and covered services will be the same for calendar year 2024. The EPO plan emphasizes preventive care, providing those services at no cost to covered members.

Review this Summary of Benefits and Coverage for the Aetna Select EPO Plan for more details of this plan. You can also obtain paper copies by contacting Human Resources.

Finding Participating (In-Network) Providers
Enrollees in the Aetna Open Access—Aetna Select EPO plan must obtain healthcare services from in-network providers. To find in-network providers, go to aetna.com.

Prescription Drug Coverage
The university's Prescription Drug Program is administered by Express Scripts. Present your Express Scripts member ID card when filling a prescription at the pharmacy. The following co-payment amounts apply for a one-month (30-day) prescription at the retail pharmacy:

• $15 co-payment for tier 1 medications
• $50 co-payment for tier 2 medications
• $100 co-payment for tier 3 medications 

Vision Plan Coverage
Aetna enrollees are automatically enrolled in the Vision Plan at no additional cost. (You must be enrolled in the healthcare plan to receive vision plan benefits; there is no option to enroll separately.) The plan allows you to receive routine vision services either from participating (in-network) vision providers or from providers who do not participate in the Aetna vision network (out-of-network). To search for in-network providers, go to aetnavision.com. You should also print your vision care member ID card once you're logged in; you will present the card at the time you receive routine vision services.

The Vision Care Plan covers an examination and new lenses (contact and glasses) every 12 months and new frames every 24 months. Review the Plan Summary for coverage details. Call Aetna at 877.973.3238 for additional information. Click here to locate a provider.

Dental Plan Coverage
For additional information, please go to the dental care page of The New School's benefits website.

Please refer to the 2024 Health Care and Dental Care Plan Contributions charts, using the number of courses you are teaching in an academic year (fall and/or spring) as a basis.

• 1 course rates
• 1 course Domestic Partner and Child(ren) or Domestic Partner only Rates
• 2 and 3 course rates
• 2 and 3 course rates Domestic Partner and Child(ren) Rates
• 2 and 3 course rates Domestic Partner only Rates

Contributions are withheld from your bi-weekly paychecks over the course of the academic year (September through June). If you do not receive a paycheck or do not receive enough pay to cover your bi-weekly contributions, the amount of contributions withheld from another paycheck (or paychecks) will be increased so that your premium will be paid to the fullest extent feasible through deductions from your pay during the academic year. In addition, failure to make premium payments will result in termination of coverage (health and/or dental) effective the last day of the month for which the required contribution was made.

You can save money by using the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA). This authorized benefit allows you to pay for health and/or dependent daycare expenses with pre-tax dollars. By paying these expenses through your FSA, you lower your taxable income, thus increasing your take-home pay.

2024 Annual Limits

• Healthcare FSA: $3,050
• Dependent Care FSA: $5,00        

Estimating Your Flexible Spending Needs
Estimate the amount you will pay in out-of-pocket expenses for eligible healthcare and/or dependent care expenses from January 1 to December 31, 2024. For healthcare, this can include things such as doctor or dentist and prescription co-pays, the cost of eyeglasses or lenses not covered by insurance, and dental work such as orthodontia not covered by insurance. For dependent care expenses, estimate how much you spend in childcare for dependents age 13 and under. This can include after-school care or summer camp.

Have questions on what a flexible spending plan covers? View this helpful guide from EBPA, our flexible spending vendor for IRS-covered expenses.

If you terminate employment with The New School midyear, you will be eligible to submit FSA claims only for the dates of service incurred while you were actively employed.

Qualified Transportation Expense Plans
In 2023, the pre-tax limit was $300. If you currently participate, your 2023 elections will continue into 2024. You can enroll or make changes at any time during the year by initiating a Benefit Event in MyDay. We've created this guide for Changing Your Transit and Parking Amounts to help you navigate MyDay. Use the event date of January 1, 2024, to increase your contributions for January.

For additional information regarding these plans, visit the Qualified Transportation Expense page on our website.

Tax Deferred Annuity Retirement Plan
You can choose to contribute a percentage of your base annual salary or a flat dollar amount per paycheck. The maximum annual contribution for 2024 is not known at this time, but the 2023 limit was $22,500. Employees age 50 and older (and those who will attain age 50 by December 31) are eligible to contribute an additional $6,500 annually, as set by the IRS (referred to as the "Age 50+ Catch-Up").

Your current elections will continue in 2024, but if you'd like to increase or change your contributions, you can do so by initiating a Benefit Event in MyDay. We've created this guide for Changing Your Retirement Savings Amounts to help you navigate MyDay. Use the event date of January 1, 2024, to change your contributions for January.

What You Can Do Today
Review your account. Were you automatically enrolled in the plan at a 3 percent contribution rate upon hire? If so, your contributions are being invested in the plan’s qualified default investment alternative, a TIAA Lifecycle Fund, assuming a retirement age of 65. You owe it to yourself to review your investment allocation and contribution rate.

If you’re not already enrolled in The New School Tax Deferred Annuity plan (TDA), consider enrolling today. Saving for retirement is an important step in planning for your financial future.

Personalized advice is included with your retirement plan at no additional cost to you. Don’t let another year slip by without checking in on your retirement plan! Schedule an appointment today for an individual counseling session at TIAA.org/schedulenow or call 800.732.8353 weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.

As required by law, The New School must provide certain notices to employees on an annual basis.