Permanent, full and part-time employees are eligible to participate in either the Choice or ChoicePlus plans offered by the Town's health insurance provider, United HealthCare. Full time employees become eligible for coverage on the first day of the month following their initial date of hire. Part-time employees must work at least 20 hours per week to be eligible for insurance. Upon their hiring, employees must elect in writing whether or not they wish to join the Town's health insurance program.
There are two options available to the employees: Choice (HMO or Health Maintenance Organization) and ChoicePlus (PPO or Preferred Provider Option). Both are open access plans, meaning that written referrals to in-plan specialists are not required.
Under the Choice HMO Option, employees must use the doctors, hospitals and others who are on the Optimum Choice list of approved providers. By doing this, employees pay only a copay. If they receive treatment from someone not on the approved list, the employee is then responsible for the entire cost of the service. There is no out-of-plan option with the HMO option. The HMO plan is an employee's lowest cost option.
The ChoicePlus PPO program provides employees a dual option system that provides the benefits of both the HMO group model and an indemnity plan. Employees may elect to use physicians within the group plan and receive medical services at preset fees; or they may continue to use their own personal physicians and then file via the use of claim forms for reimbursement of their related medical expenses. The PPO option is the higher cost program of the two plans offered by the Town.
Interested employees can visit the website,
www.myuhc.com to locate the names of doctors participating in this plan. Medical and prescription claim forms plus student verification forms can be accessed through the forms page at
http://www.viennava.gov/Tov_staff/staff_forms.html.
Employees must opt in or out of the Town's health insurance plan upon their initial hiring. Coverage may be dropped at any time, but new enrollments can occur only during open season (July 1 of each year), or upon the birth or adoption of a child, marriage, divorce or death of a spouse so long as the paperwork is submitted within 30 days of the event. All such changes must be submitted in writing to the Administrative Services office.
The Town of Vienna contributes to the cost of the health insurance. Vienna pays for 80% of the employee's single premium cost and 50% of the dependent and family rates.
Group Life Insurance
The Town of Vienna, through VRS, provides group life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for all permanent employees at no cost to employees. This policy provides a double indemnity clause for accidental death and provisions in the event of accidental dismemberment.
Employees can calculate the amount of their insurance by rounding their annual base salary to the next highest thousand and then doubling that amount. Life insurance coverage ceases 31 days after termination of employment. Should a separating employee so desire, he/she may convert this life insurance policy to an individual policy through VRS.
Upon retirement, coverage begins to reduce on the January 1 following one calendar year of retirement. The reduction rate is 25 percent each January 1 until it reaches 25 percent of its value at retirement.
Also, employees have life insurance coverage if they retire because of a disability. Basic group life insurance begins to reduce on January 1 following one calendar year from your 65th birthday. The reduction rate is 25 percent each January 1 until it reaches 25 percent of its value at retirement.
For further details, refer to the VRS website at
http://www.varetire.org.
Dental Insurance
Vienna offers to its employees membership in the Dominion Dental Program. Premium payments for this plan are paid by the employee through payroll deduction. Membership in this plan is optional and an employee is able to join this program anytime throughout the year (open season restrictions do not apply to this plan.) Two plans are offered:
HMO: Participants can only visit dentists that are in the Dominion network of providers. No orthodontia services are provided. Refer to the plan booklet for more detailed information.
PPO: Participants have the option of visiting doctors that are either in or out of the Dominion network. This plan also provides a $1,000 lifetime orthodontia benefit. Refer to the plan booklet for more detailed information.
For additional information, check their Web site at
www.dominiondental.com.