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November 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine Goal: Deliver improved business processes, systems, and tools that meet the needs of our employees, reduce the cost of doing business, and improve the Laboratory's mission performance.2009 supplemental disability and life insurance premiums lower for majority of enrollees
The recent rebidding of the Laboratory's disability and life insurance contracts has paid off for employees. Benefits Design and Administration (HR-B), the key player behind the successful rebidding outcome, projects that some employees will save as much as 77 percent, depending on the exact coverage and the enrollee's age group. For some disability and life insurance choices and age groups the savings will not be as great, and a few options and age brackets will experience rate increases. In the aggregate, enrolled employees will save a combined total of 32.22 percent in insurance premiums across the various supplemental options and age categories, as Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio suggested in the all-employee memo of September 10 (http://int.lanl.gov/memos/2008/09 /LANL_EMP182.pdf (internal only)). The lower disability and life insurance premiums for most enrollees are just part of other positive financial news for employees. Despite rising medical insurance premiums nationwide, participants in the Laboratory's medical plan will pay the same medical rates in calendar year 2009 as in 2008, thanks to effective contract negotiations between HR-B and the Lab's medical insurance carrier, United Healthcare. By comparison, enrolled Laboratory employees experienced an average medical premium increase of 8.3 percent in 2008 and 10.9 percent in 2007. The life, disability, and medical premium good news is further complemented by the fact that individuals qualified to receive fiscal year 2008 merit increases will benefit from the largest salary increase authorization awarded by the National Nuclear Security Administration in several years. "In a time of never-ending inflation, from health-care costs to fuel prices, it pleases me that the Benefits Administration group has been diligent and successful in its ability to avert any increase of health-care premiums paid by our employees," said Doris Heim, associate director for Business Services. "Not only that, Benefits has secured rate reductions in the employee premiums for both disability and life. This is a huge win for the employees of the Lab," said Heim. To review the 2008 medical insurance rates, which will apply to 2009, employees can access the online premium chart at http://int.lanl.gov/worklife/benefits/health/premiums_08.shtml (internal only) Other Headlines
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