Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows

Looking Ahead to the 2025-2026 Plan Year

Re-elect to Continue Participating in Flexible Spending Accounts

Effective July 1, 2025, you will need to re-elect your Health Care and/or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts to continue coverage in the new plan year. 

• Unlike your medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, which rolls over to the next plan year if you don’t make changes, you must re-elect your Flexible Spending Account this year if you wish to continue participation in the plan.
• If you do not re-elect the coverage for the upcoming plan year, your goal amount from the current plan year will not roll over to the new plan year. You will be defaulted with a $0 annual goal amount, and you will not be able to enroll in the plan until the next Open Enrollment period unless you have a qualifying life event.
• Please log in to Workday to review and re-elect your FSA. If you need assistance, please contact Health Advocate at 1-866-799-2329.
• Note: NRSA Fellows are not eligible to participate in the Flexible Spending Accounts.

Contribution and Rollover Amounts Increase for Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts

The maximum contribution you can make to your Health Care FSA is increasing from $3,200 to $3,300. The rollover amount will also increase from $640 to $660. You have until June 30, 2026 (end of the plan year) to incur expenses and until September 30, 2026, to submit eligible claims for services you received before June 30. Any remaining balance you have over $660 will be forfeited. (Note: NRSA Fellows are not eligible to participate in the Flexible Spending Accounts.)

Revisions to Prescription Drug Coverage

The prescription drug plan administered by CVS/caremark for all medical plans, will provide a preferred formulary to help manage costs and keep coverage affordable. A preferred formulary is an updated list of generic, brand, and specialty medications, covered by your prescription plan.  The drugs in the formulary are determined by judgment of physicians and pharmacists, based on existing medical evidence. Drugs not included in the preferred formulary will be replaced with a clinical equivalent alternative under the preferred formulary.  Participants using medications impacted by this change, as well as providers prescribing medications impacted, will be contacted 60 days prior to their next fill, so they can work with CVS/caremark to avoid any interruptions. Work with your provider to ensure that the medication being prescribed is on the approved formulary list.

• If you are clinically unable to use one of the alternatives selected your provider can request an exception.
• If you and your provider do not select an alternative, or an exception is not approved, the medication will not be covered.

New Voluntary Benefits Offering with Corestream

Penn will offer a new voluntary benefits program called Penn Benefit Extras, administered by Corestream. The benefits include critical illness, accident insurance, hospital indemnity insurance, pet health care options, and identity theft protection. When you purchase one of the plans, and experience an accident, illness, or hospitalization, the plan will pay a lump sum to assist with out-of-pocket costs.

• You can choose multiple products and have just one payroll deduction.
• You must elect critical illness, accident insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance during Open Enrollment, but you can sign up for pet health care options and identity theft protection anytime throughout the year.

For more information, visit the Penn Benefit Extras webpage.   

New Wellness Platform Partner, WebMD

Effective July 1, 2025, Penn and Be in the Know welcome a new wellness platform partner, WebMD. Kickoff Be in the Know 2025-2026 with fresh programs and resources to engage in your health and enhance your overall well-being.  WebMD brings wellness brand recognition and an easy-to-use platform and mobile app, plus an abundance of learning content in various formats and health-enhancing tools like Daily Habits, challenges, coaching, and more. Continue to enjoy Penn’s current platform partner, Personify Health (formerly Virgin Pulse) and their programs, through June 30, 2025, earning you points for Be in the Know 2024-2025, and be sure to spend all earned Rewards Cash by June 30, 2025.

Medical Plan Rates, Dental Rates, and Copays

For medical, dental, and vision rates, review the Medical, Dental, and Vision rates for 2025-2026 chart in the Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows Benefits Enrollment Guide or visit the Open Enrollment webpage.

• PennCare/Personal Choice PPO, Aetna Choice POS II, and Keystone/AmeriHealth HMO will have a $5 increase in copays for primary care and specialty care. For a list of new copays, check the individual health plan charts in the Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows Benefits Enrollment Guide.
• Copays for Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse will remain the same.

All changes are effective July 1, 2025

Enrollment Process with Workday@Penn

Be sure to review your available choices in Workday. You must enroll in order to have coverage. Use the steps below to enroll.

1. With Your PennKey and password log in to Workday at: www.myworkday.com/upenn/login.html.
2. From your home page, select Open Enrollment – Event in your inbox.
3. Click Let’s Get Started.
4. A set of tiles will show the benefit items you can view or change.
5. Select Manage/Enroll on the benefit that you would like to review.
6. Add dependents and beneficiaries if applicable.
7. Complete this for each benefit tile you wish to enroll in.
8. Once you have completed your elections, click Review and Sign at the bottom of page. If you added a new dependent that does not appear in Workday, you will be required to provide a dependent verification. You can upload this information by clicking Select Files in the attachment box and attaching the documents on this screen. 
9. Review your elections and scroll down to bottom and click "I Accept"
10. To complete the process click Submit.
11. Print your confirmation statement.
12. To view full self-service tip sheet on how to enroll: Self Service: Manage, View and Change Your Open Enrollment Elections.

During Open Enrollment, you can make changes to your benefits coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the new Benefits, Comp and Pay Hub via Workday@Penn at http://www.myworkday.com/upenn/login.html. 

To access the hub, click on “View All Apps” or “Menu” from your homepage, then select “Benefits, Comp and Pay Hub” from the Apps menu. Please remember to print a confirmation statement for your records. Read the Self-Service: Manage, View and Change Your Benefits Workday tip sheet for instructions. 

While in Workday, you can also check out the Model My Pay feature. This Workday tool can help you see how making hypothetical changes to your pre-tax and post-tax deductions and federal and state tax elections may impact your net, or take home, pay. Read the Self-Service: Model My Pay tip sheet for step-by-step instructions as well as information on performing self-service changes to your actual pay. Model My Pay should be used for informational purposes only. 

Benefits Presentation

You can learn about the upcoming plan year changes, plan options, rates, and more by downloading the 2025-2026 Open Enrolment Benefits presentation. 

Updating Your Life Insurance Beneficiaries

Please review and update your life insurance beneficiary information in the Benefits, Comp and Pay Hub in Workday@Penn.

Your Contributions

Your contributions for medical, dental, vision, and the flexible spending accounts are made with pre-tax dollars. You pay for employee and dependent life insurance with after-tax dollars. All contributions are taken from your paycheck in the month for which your benefits are effective. Your pay must support your contributions for the benefits elected. If your pay doesn't support your contributions, then your enrollment cannot be processed.

Making Changes to Your Elections Outside of Open Enrollment

If you have a qualifying life event you may be eligible to make changes to your benefit elections outside of Open Enrollment. For more information visit the Qualifying Life Event Changes page.

For More Information

• Review the 2025-2026 Postdoctoral Researchers and Fellows Benefits Enrollment Guide.
• Contact Health Advocate at answers@HealthAdvocate.com or call 1-866-799-2329, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.