Public Employee Press

Health care reopener starts Oct. 15

City employees may switch their health-care plan between Oct. 15 and Nov. 14. Each year, the city holds a month-long enrollment period, known as the “reopener,” allowing individuals to choose a new plan if it better suits their needs.

Retirees may switch plans only during even-numbered years. So, unless they exercise their once-in-a-lifetime exception, they cannot change their coverage until 2004.

This year, most employees may want to hold off on changing plans because the city’s main health-care plan is up for bids. The plan — currently run by GHI for medical services and Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield for hospital coverage — is a preferred-provider organization indemnity plan. A PPO lets subscribers choose between panel doctors and non-participating physicians.

Ordinarily, the new contract would have been in place by Jan. 1. But the bids are still under consideration. The contract is worth about $1.5 billion per year. With the bids on hold, the city’s health-care benefits will not change. Any changes in the indemnity plan must be negotiated between the city and the unions, which won the coverage decades ago through strikes and collective bargaining.

“Unless you currently have a major problem with your plan, it probably doesn’t make sense to switch now,” said Rosaria R. Esperon, administrator of the DC 37 Health and Security Plan. The city will not produce its booklet that compares plans this year, and the Public Employee Press will not offer its usual extensive comparison charts until the contract is awarded. A special reopener will probably be scheduled when a new award is made.