May 23, 2023
Dear Colleagues,
First, congratulations on a successful academic year. Commencement is a great reminder of the mission we all share – the education of our students. We thank each of you for your role in supporting the new University of Nebraska graduates.
As you know, this is a unique period for higher education. Universities around the country are facing significant economic headwinds and we are no different. We all need to prepare for change as we navigate these headwinds without compromising our educational mission.
Conversations of this nature are often challenging, but today we are very pleased to share good news about changes to our health plans that will ensure continued competitive benefits for you and your family.
Pending approval by the Board of Regents, the University of Nebraska will make the following changes to our benefits providers effective January 1, 2024:
- Our health insurance carrier will change from UMR to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska.
- Our pharmacy insurance carrier will change from CVS Health to EmpirRx Health.
- Our dental insurance carrier will change from Ameritas to Delta Dental of Nebraska.
All three changes will go before the Board at its June 22 meeting.
We are bringing these changes forward following a robust competitive bidding process that attracted bids from multiple vendors. A university-wide committee of 12 faculty and staff carefully evaluated the bids with assistance from an outside consultant, Gallagher Benefit Service.
The committee considered factors like network discounts, bidders’ networks of providers and other items, all with the goal of maintaining a quality and competitive benefits plan that best serves you and your families. We are grateful to the committee for its diligent work and we strongly support their recommendations, as do all four of our chancellors.
Fortunately, we expect minimal disruption with these transitions. About 99% of health providers used by University employees and their families last year were in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska network. Among the dental providers used by employees and their families, 86% were in the Delta Dental network – a higher share than were in the Ameritas network.
We are establishing customer service lines dedicated to the University of Nebraska to assist you as we make these transitions and will share those phone numbers soon. In the meantime, we invite you to contact your current provider if you have questions about whether they are in the network of our new providers.
As always, you may also reach out to your campus benefits office with questions, using the contact information below. You can expect detailed information about benefits enrollment for 2024 later this fall.
We hope this is welcome news as you consider the health needs of you and your family. This is a time of significant change in the healthcare industry, but we are proud to offer a competitive and high-quality benefits plan as part of our overall goal to be an employer of choice.
Thank you for all you do for the University of Nebraska.
Sincerely,
