Cigna Open Access Plus High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP with HSA)

Cigna Choice Fund Open Access Plus plans offer choice and convenience—access to a broad national provider network, while allowing you to make your own health care choices. You have the choice to use providers participating in the Open Access Plus network or the option to use providers out of network. The applicable deductible must be met before claims are covered by Cigna. You can contribute to a health savings account plan through payroll deduction; Wesleyan will contribute $500 per calendar year to your account if you are enrolled in employee only coverage; and $1,000 per calendar year if you are enrolled in employee plus child(ren), employee plus spouse or domestic partner, or family coverage.  The funding of Wesleyan's contribution to your HSA will take place on or as soon after January 1st of each year as possible for funds to be available at the beginning of the plan year.

• 2024 Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC)
• 2024 Benefit Summary (SOC)
• 2021 Summary Plan Description (SPD)*
• HDHP with HSA PowerPoint
• HSA User Guide
• Compliance Rider All Plans
• HSA Rider

*The 2021 SPD plus the 2022 Riders act as the 2022 SPD.

Health Savings Accounts

A health savings account (HSA) is a personal health care bank account you can use to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses with pretax dollars.

You own and administer your HSA. You determine how much you contribute to your account, when to use your money to pay for qualified medical expenses, and when to reimburse yourself. Remember, this is a bank account; you must have money in the account before you can spend it.

HSAs Offer the Following Advantages:

Tax Savings: You contribute pretax dollars to the HSA. Interest accumulates tax-free, and funds are withdrawn tax-free to pay for medical expenses.

Reduced Out-of-Pocket Costs: You can use the money in your HSA to pay for eligible medical expenses and prescriptions. The HSA funds you use can help you meet your plan’s annual deductible.

A Long-Term Investment That Stays With You: Unused account dollars are yours to keep, even if you retire or leave the University. Also, you can invest your HSA funds, so your available health care dollars can grow over time.

The Opportunity for Long-Term Savings: Save unused HSA funds from year to year—you can use this money to reduce future out-of-pocket health expenses. You can even save HSA dollars to use after you retire.

You are eligible to fund an HSA if:

• You are enrolled in an HSA-eligible high deductible health plan, such as Wesleyan University’s HDHP plan.
• You are not covered by your spouse’s health plan (unless it is a qualified HDHP), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement account (HRA).
• You are not eligible to be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
• You are not enrolled in Medicare, TRICARE, or TRICARE for Life.
• You have not received Veterans Administration benefits in the past three months.
  
  

More details about Health Savings Accounts

The HSA is administered by HSA Bank. Wesleyan University pays the monthly administrative fee for your HSA. If your coverage status or employment status changes, you will be responsible for all HSA account holder fees.

Once your HSA account with HSA Bank is open, your contributions will be deposited each pay cycle. You’ll notice two separate line items on your paycheck when you participate in the HDHP with HSA option: one for your employee premium for the HDHP, and one for your pretax contributions to the HSA. 

IMPORTANT! How much you can deposit into an HSA in 2023

Important note: Wesleyan University’s contributions count toward the annual HSA contribution limits, so you need to carefully plan how much you’ll contribute annually in order to avoid excess contributions.

How to access/make contributions to your HSA

Once your account is open, you can access it via mycigna.com by clicking on “Visit your HSA bank to manage your account.” You’ll set up your payroll contributions during open enrollment. You can make contribution changes at any time during the year by submitting the HSA Authorization Form to benefits@wesleyan.edu. Note that it may take between one and two payroll periods for an HSA change to be effective.

Is a High Deductible Health Plan right for me?

Advantages of a High Deductible plan:

• You save hundreds of dollars a year on your employee contributions compared to what you would pay for Wesleyan’s OAP plans. Ideally, you should take what you save on premiums and contribute that to your HSA account, especially the first year you enroll, to ensure you can cover your pre-deductible expenses, as well as any coinsurance costs.
• The money contributed to your HSA is not taxed. It is yours to use when paying for qualified medical and pharmacy expenses. The account is portable and remains yours even if you leave Wesleyan. However, if you use the account for non-eligible expenses prior to age 65, you will incur a 20% penalty from the IRS.
• Wesleyan matches your HSA contributions up to $500 each year.
• You can invest the funds in a manner similar to that of other retirement accounts (once your account reaches a certain level).
• The plan’s out-of-pocket maximum provides financial protection from unexpected and catastrophic medical/pharmacy costs, as it limits the total annual amount that you would pay out of pocket (i.e., deductible, copayment, and coinsurance costs) for covered medical expenses.

Things to consider:

• An HSA plan is a high deductible plan. Therefore, with the exception of preventive services, you must pay 100% of the cost for your health care expenses, including prescriptions, until the deductible is met. If you think you may need expensive medical care within the next year, and would find it hard to pay the out-of-pocket costs to meet the plan deductible and coinsurance, this plan may pose a financial burden for you.
• Even if you are generally healthy, some illnesses and injuries can be unpredictable, making it hard to accurately budget for health care expenses. 
• Per IRS guidelines, anyone covered by Medicare A, B, C, or D is not eligible to contribute to an HSA account, including receiving employer contributions. However, Medicare enrollees can use HSA funds accumulated before Medicare enrollment to pay for qualified medical expenses, which includes most Medicare plan premiums.
• You cannot use your HSA to pay for the medical expenses of dependents 19 years of age and older (or full-time students up to age 23), even though they can be covered by the HDHP medical plan. However, they can establish their own HSA to pay for their medical and prescription costs.
• There is no individual limit built into the family deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.

Questions?

Call the toll-free number on the back of your Cigna ID card; or for questions regarding your HSA account, call the HSA Bank’s customer service line at 877-682-9563. You can also visit mycigna.com. Wesleyan’s group number is 3188492.

Benefit Disclaimer

Benefit summaries are provided for the convenience of Wesleyan employees. Employees are directed to read the relevant benefit plan documents. In the event of a conflict between the terms of any summary and the terms of actual plan documents, the terms of plan documents will control. Except where prohibited by collective bargaining or other agreement, Wesleyan reserves the right to alter, modify, or suspend any benefit at any time. While Wesleyan selects its benefit providers after thoughtful review, it disclaims responsibility for the ultimate performance of such providers.