This category is for articles and announcements related to your benefits as an MSU benefits-eligible faculty or staff member.
The Benefits Open Enrollment Guides are now online for MSU faculty, staff and retirees.
The annual Benefits Open Enrollment period runs from Monday, April 16 through Monday, May 7, 2012. This is the time of year when all benefits-eligible employees can re-evaluate their benefits needs and make changes to benefits selections. These changes take effect on July 1, 2012.Continue Reading… Benefits Open Enrollment Guides Now Available
It’s almost the deadline for turning in 2011 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) receipts! Here are the FSA important dates to remember for your Dependent Care Spending Account (DCSA) and Health Care Spending Account (HCSA):
You gave us your feedback, and we listened. During open enrollment for Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) last fall, you wanted to be able to log in to one place to get your FSA information and enroll. Now you can. Links for your FSA status and benefits brochures are now available on the EBS Portal.
Checking the status of your FSA account or viewing benefits brochures from the EBS Portal is quick and easy. Select EBS Login at http://www.ebs.msu.edu. Log in using your MSU NetID and select the Employee Self Service tab. If you need assistance with your NetID or password, visit https://netid.msu.edu/. Your ESS tab will reflect your employee group and may read ESS Salary, ESS Hourly, ESS Faculty, etc. On the right side of the main ESS screen you will see Quick Links for Flexible Spending Account Status and Benefits Brochures. The FSA Status link will take you to information about processed claims, payments and balances. Clicking the Benefits Brochures link will allow you to view MSU’s health care and life insurance brochures.Continue Reading… FSA Status now available through EBS Portal
The annual MSU Benefits Open Enrollment will take place Monday, April 16 through Monday, May 7, 2012.
Open enrollment is the time of year when all eligible employees can re-evaluate their benefits needs and make changes to benefits selections. Changes will take effect July 1, 2012.Continue Reading… Benefits Open Enrollment Dates Announced
When facing critical medical decisions, you can easily become unsure if you’re making the best choice. Best Doctors is now here to help with those tough decisions.
Here is Tom’s story. Tom was getting ready to undergo open heart surgery, and he decided to get a second opinion to make sure the surgery was the right treatment option.Continue Reading… A Best Doctors Success Story
Planning for retirement can feel like a journey, which is why MSU Human Resources Benefits and Human Resource Development (HRD) staff offer the Road Next Traveled (RNT) program. 
The RNT program has two one-day sessions to choose from, depending on where you’re at in the retirement planning process.
If retirement is still about three to seven years away, attend RNT: 3-7 Years to Your Retirement. This session covers a range of pre-retirement issues, including retirement from a financial perspective, legal aspects of retirement planning, an MSU benefits overview and preparing to redefine your future.Continue Reading… RNT: Road Next Traveled Pre-Retirement Planning Programs
MSU faculty, staff, retirees and benefits-eligible dependents now have access to Best Doctors, a clinically-based service to help you easily and confidentially get second opinions from medical experts all around the nation.
Facing a serious diagnosis or making decisions about surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or any number of other complex treatment options can be overwhelming, but Best Doctors can help.
When you call Best Doctors at 1-866-904-0910, they’ll discuss your situation with you and then, with your permission, they will collect your medical records and consult with medical experts around the nation who specialize in diagnosing and treating the condition you are facing. They will provide you with a detailed report and treatment recommendations to help you answer all the questions you may have. And, if you want them to, they will even consult with your own physician to make sure your diagnosis is correct and your care plan is likely to give you the best results possible. Best Doctors doesn’t replace your own doctor’s care. Rather, it gives you an additional expert advisor to help you navigate complex medical information and options.
There is no out-of-pocket cost to you for using this new service and it is completely confidential. Information about this new benefit is being mailed to all eligible faculty, staff and retirees. A copy of the information being mailed also is available now at: http://www.hr.msu.edu/benefits/benefits_docs/BestDoctorsKit.pdf
Access to this program came about as part of an ongoing collaborative effort involving the MSU Joint Health Care Committee (JHCC), faculty committees and MSU Human Resources. These groups continuously work together to identify innovative health care solutions for MSU that improve quality and help constrain health care costs.
The next time you and your family face a difficult or important medical decision, please consider giving Best Doctors a call.
Would you like 2012 to be the year you finally quit smoking for good? The MSU Smoking Cessation Program can help!
Olin Health Center, the Office of the University Physician-Health4U program and Human Resources have teamed up to offer you and your adult benefits-eligible family members a chance to enroll in this year-long program at a greatly reduced cost. The program combines use of the prescription medication CHANTIX with medical evaluation, monitoring and behavioral support to increase your chances of long-term success. Continue Reading… Orientation Session Scheduled for MSU Smoking Cessation Program
Today is the last day to participate in Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Open Enrollment for the 2012 plan year. The enrollment system closes at 11:59 p.m. EST. Those who miss the enrollment deadline will have to wait until next fall to enroll in the 2013 program.
There are two types of FSAs available to MSU faculty and staff:Continue Reading… FSA Open Enrollment Ends Today
Yes! Since Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are IRS-regulated benefits, save all of your receipts. IRS rules require FSA Plan Administrators to substantiate the eligibility of ALL items and services billed to Flexible Spending Accounts, including those transactions using HCSA debit cards.
MSU’s FSA Plan Administrator, Meritain Health, may contact you to submit a receipt to verify an expense. To meet IRS requirements, if such receipts aren’t sent to MSU’s FSA Plan Administrator in the time frame indicated in their messages, your HCSA Debit Card may be suspended until the issue is resolved.Continue Reading… Do I need to keep all of my receipts for my Flexible Spending Account?
