Taking Care of Our People, Health Benefits

Campus Community,

In June, the Board of Trustees will consider and vote on a university budget for 2022-2023.

A critical element of that proposed budget is the investment we make in health care and how we work to keep costs as low as possible, while providing outstanding coverage.

After all, one of the principles of our strategic plan is titled Taking Care of Our People. Health care coverage is an essential element of how we do that. Here is what we will propose to the board in June:

• The UK HMO plan will not include any increases in premiums for our employees. Nearly half of UK employees who receive their coverage from the university utilize this plan.
• The other plan that is most heavily utilized by UK employees – the PPO plan – will see increases in premiums from $4 per month to $12 per month.
• About 90 percent of UK employees who receive coverage from the university utilize one of these two plans.
• Last year, UK invested more than $178 million in health coverage for our employees; this coming year, we will propose an investment of more than $183 million as we seek to increase access, continue enhancing quality and hold down costs.

For all our plans, we are adding additional, important benefits that will improve access to care. These additions are in direct response to the feedback we’ve heard from UK Staff Senate leaders. Their ongoing collaboration has been crucial to the development of these plans.

Examples of additional benefits include:

• Musculoskeletal health, to address more chronic conditions with new digital physical therapy and coaching services and tools
• Additional fertility benefits to provide more support for family planning
• An inclusive care initiative, designed to provide help in navigating care options to all members of our community

We will have more detailed information about these plans and options in the coming weeks. Open enrollment will begin April 27 and continue through May 13. This is the time in which members of our community can make changes to their coverage plans.

I’m proud of the fact that we offer outstanding benefits for members of our community. Health coverage is a critical component of that benefits package. It is an essential part of what it means to take care of our people. 

Over the next several weeks, we will finalize a proposed budget for our board to consider. During this time, I will communicate with you about some of the most important aspects of that proposal, like our plans for health coverage.

We are focused as a community and a campus on how we advance Kentucky in everything that we do.

And the bottom line is that people – whether as families or as members of a large institution like UK – invest in what they consider to be most important. Budgets, in an important sense, are expressions of our values.

At UK, we are working every day to find ways to invest in our people. You make our mission of advancing the Commonwealth possible.

Eli Capilouto

President