Open enrollment is your opportunity to review your medical, dental, vision, and reimbursement account benefit elections and make any changes necessary to ensure your choices continue to meet your needs.

If you wish to participate in the Health Care and/or Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts for 2022, you must enroll (or re-enroll). Participation in the reimbursement accounts does not automatically continue from year to year.

If you do not make changes to your medical, dental or vision coverage, your current medical, dental and vision coverage elections for 2021 will continue for 2022.

Open Enrollment 2022: ends at 6 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2021

• Decisions to Make During Open Enrollment
• 2022 Plan Highlights and Changes
• What You Need to Know for Open Enrollment 2022
• Open Enrollment Guide (PDF)

Decisions to Make During Open Enrollment

Open Enrollment is the one time of year when benefit eligible employees can enroll in or change their medical, dental and/or vision insurance plans, and enroll in reimbursement accounts. Changes made during open enrollment are effective on January 1, 2022. Here's what you need to decide this year:

1. Which medical plan best meets my needs and the needs of my covered family member? Duke offers four different medical plans. Carefully consider the network available, (particularly if your dependents live outside of the Triangle Area), any specific health providers that you see, or a need to cover dependent pregnancy. Note that if you change health plans, your care management may be disrupted and may also need to change.
2. Will you cover yourself and/or dependents for dental and vision insurance? Duke offers three different dental plans and a vision plan that covers eye exams, lenses and
3. How much would you like to save on taxes? During Open Enrollment, you can sign up to participate in a Health Care Reimbursement Account and/or a Dependent Care Reimbursement Account. Both of these accounts allow you to put money aside before taxes to pay for health care costs and child or elder care costs, respectively. Since the money is taken out of your paycheck before taxes are calculated, you save about 30 cents of every dollar you put in the accounts.
4. Do you need new or additional life insurance coverage? There is a limited time offer only during this year's Open Enrollment to purchase new or extra life insurance for yourself and your eligible family members without the need for evidence of insurability.

Remember: If you take no action during Open Enrollment, the elections you made for 2021 for your medical, dental, and vision coverage will continue for 2022. To continue to use a reimbursement account, you must re-enroll for 2022.

2022 Plan Highlights and Changes

Medical Plans

• Beginning January 1, 2022, Duke's medical plans (Duke Select, Duke Basic, Blue Care, and Duke Options) will no longer be considered "grandfathered" plans. This means that our Duke medical plans will comply with all provisions required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
• An annual preventive care visit for each adult enrolled under Duke's medical plans is covered at no charge to the member when you visit an in-network provider. If the visit includes treatment or the provider makes a healthcare diagnosis, a copay may apply.
• Your medical plans will include an out of pocket maximum — an enhanced level of financial protection that limits the total amount you will spend on medical and pharmacy copays, coinsurance, and deductibles combined.
• Certain specialty pharmacy drugs are considered non-essential health benefits under the plan, and the cost of these drugs will not be applied toward a member's out of pocket maximum. Although the cost of these eligible specialty drugs will not be applied towards the out of pocket maximum, these costs will be reimbursed by the manufacturer at no cost to the member.
• For 2022, a virtual office visit with your regular healthcare provider is covered under your health plan, subject to your regular copay. This includes virtual office visits with your behavioral health provider.

Dental Plans

• No change in co-pays, deductibles or premiums for any of the dental plans.
• As a reminder, if you or a dependent are not currently enrolled for dental coverage through Duke and enroll for 2022, a "late entrant" provision will apply (refer to page 10 for more information).

Vision Plan

• No change in co-pays, deductibles or premiums for the vision plan.

Reimbursement Accounts

• Maximum annual contribution for Health Care Reimbursement Account is $2,750 (subject to IRS regulations). Unlimited carryover of unused funds from the 2021 plan year to the 2022 plan year is available. Up to $550 of your unused 2022 Health Care reimbursement Account balance can be carried over to the 2023 plan year.
• Maximum annual contribution for Dependent Care Reimbursement Account is $5,000 per family. Unlimited carryover of unused funds from the 2021 plan year to the 2022 plan year is available. There is no carryover from the 2022 plan year to the 2023 plan year when filing claims for dependent care expenses.

Supplemental Life Insurance Special Enrollment (One-Time Offer!)

• Purchase new or additional supplemental life insurance for yourself and your eligible family members.

Express Scripts SaveOnSP Program

Beginning January 1, 2022, Express Scripts, our pharmacy vendor, has partnered with SaveOnSP to offer a prescription drug program designed to reduce copays for certain specialty medications. Through this new program, you may be eligible to receive your specialty medications free of charge.  If your medication is included on the Duke 2022 SaveOnSP Drug List, Express Scripts will be reaching out to enroll you and your eligible family members in this program.  It will be important that you enroll quickly so that you may enjoy a $0 copay for these medications in 2022.  You will receive a letter from Express Scripts mailed to your home address on file that will include instructions on how to enroll.  

You will continue to fill your medications through your approved specialty pharmacy (either Accredo or Duke Pharmacies).  Participation in the SaveOnSP program is voluntary.  However, if you choose not to enroll, you will be responsible for a higher coinsurance, and the cost of your medications will not count towards your deductible or out-of-pocket maximums.

Please contact Duke Benefits at (919) 684-5600 or benefits@duke.edu if you have any questions related to your Duke Pharmacy benefit coverage.

Starting at 2 p.m. on October 18, you can enroll/make changes online at Duke@Work > MyBenefits through 6 p.m. on October 29.

This enrollment guide serves as a summary of material modification to the benefits described in the official summary plan descriptions for these plans. The benefits that you receive are based upon the plan’s official plan documents, not this guide or any other written or oral statement. If there is a conflict between this guide and the official plan documents, the official plan documents will govern in all cases. Duke reserves the right at any time to change or terminate these plans.