Benefit eligible George Washington University faculty and staff will have the opportunity to add, remove or change benefits elections during the annual Open Enrollment period, which began on Oct. 7 and ends at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 25. For assistance navigating the 2025 open enrollment period, please review the information posted on the Benefits Open Enrollment webpage.
Benefits highlights
Below you will find a summary of the changes to the 2025 benefits program offerings including new vendor partners and contribution changes. Additional details are available in the 2025 Benefits Overview and Open Enrollment Guide.
- Medical Plan Enhancement: Fertility, Family Building, Pregnancy and Postpartum Benefits through Progyny
Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, GW will partner with Progyny, a leading fertility and family building benefits solution, to offer enhanced fertility and family building benefits (as applicable) to medical plan participants. The Progyny benefit includes comprehensive fertility treatment coverage leveraging the latest technologies, convenient access to a network of top fertility specialists and an integrated pharmacy solution for fertility medications. You also have access to unlimited personalized guidance from a dedicated patient care advocate (PCA) through each phase of your family building journey, including preconception and trying to conceive support as well as adoption and surrogacy counseling. For more information, review the benefit overview and welcome video. Faculty and staff can now call 833-233-0557 to speak with a PCA and discuss how Progyny can help support you.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, participants under the GW PPO and GW Health Savings Plan (HSP) will have access to a pregnancy and postpartum program through Progyny. Progyny provides ongoing support, guidance and education for expecting parents and those newly postpartum. Participants will receive personalized support from dedicated pregnancy and postpartum coaches (PPCs) who are labor and delivery nurses, the ability to schedule virtual visits with lactation consultants and baby feeding experts to get a personalized feeding plan and 24/7 access to an exclusive app. These consultations and educational resources are designed to empower users at each milestone and support overall well-being. For more information, review the benefit overview and FAQs. Faculty and staff can now call 833-233-0557 to speak to a PPC.
- Vendor Change: SupportLinc for the GW Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
At some point in our lives, each of us faces a problem or situation that we could use help to resolve. When these instances arise, the employee assistance program (EAP) can help. From Jan. 1, 2025, the GW EAP powered by SupportLinc will continue to provide confidential support to help address life’s challenges and demands that come with balancing home and work. All previous EAP services will be offered, including work-life solutions and financial, legal and identify theft resource referrals, as well as confidential counseling with enhanced capabilities and technology. You choose how you access care, from in-the-moment support via phone and live chat to email, video counseling, text coaching and in-person support. SupportLinc also provides online appointment scheduling in real time, vetted work-life referrals and resources and more. Join an upcoming session with SupportLinc to learn more. Visit the Open Enrollment Events calendar for details.
2025 health plan contribution increases
Faculty and staff medical plan contributions will increase by 6% in 2025 (across all salary bands and plans). Approximately 70% of full-time medical plan participants will see an average increase of less than $20 per month. The monthly employee contribution increase will range from $2 to about $53, depending on your plan, coverage level and salary band. The GW PPO and GW Health Savings Plan (HSP) will continue to be administered by UnitedHealthcare (UHC) and there will be no plan design changes for 2025 (e.g., deductibles, copays).
Dental contributions to the DMO plan will not increase for 2025. We are seeing high trend on the PPO dental plans resulting in employee monthly contribution increases across the Low PPO and High PPO dental plan options between $5 to $12 per month, depending on your plan and coverage. The DMO, High PPO and Low PPO plans continue to be offered through Aetna and there will be no coverage or plan design changes for 2025.
Vision coverage contributions will increase by $0.08 and $0.22 per month for the Basic plan depending on your coverage level. Under the Basic plan, the contact lens allowance will increase from $105 to $130. Contributions for the Enhanced plan will increase between $0.43 and $1.25 per month depending on your coverage level. Under the Enhanced plan, the frame allowance will increase from $130 to $150. The Basic and Enhanced vision plans will continue to be offered through UnitedHealthcare.
Our commitment and shared responsibility: While medical and prescription costs continue to rise, GW remains committed to offering health benefits that deliver good value, with competitive benefits and fair cost sharing. Plan costs have increased over the past two years at higher levels than we've seen in many years. During this time, GW has worked to mitigate increases in employee contributions. Despite large plan cost increases, year over year, GW has continued to increase its portion of the subsidy to the plans. In 2025, GW will share about 79% of the medical plan cost on average, with employees sharing an average of 21%.
As we expect continued upward pressure on the cost of our medical plans, it's important to remember we all play a part in helping control costs. GW’s medical plans are self-insured, which means the university pays the claims. UHC processes the claims from health providers for GW faculty and staff. Our premiums for the medical plans are based on our claims experience. High volume and/or high-cost claims in a year directly impact the premiums we pay as participants in the following year. But you can help. When you get regular wellness visits, timely screenings, use in-network providers and thoughtfully consider care, you generally incur less in claims cost, which directly impacts next year's premiums.
Open enrollment in-person fests and virtual events
The annual in-person fests held during October will allow faculty and staff the opportunity to meet with GW’s benefits vendor partners, ask questions, receive assistance with the enrollment process and participate in activities. The activities will differ among each fest and range from a pop-up dental clinic, complimentary vision screenings and vaccine clinics to the Human Resource Management & Development’s Fall Social, massages, art therapy, fitness classes and more.
Virtual webinars led by GW’s vendor partners will provide details about the 2025 benefit programs. In addition, UnitedHealthcare will hold 1:1 appointments during Open Enrollment, providing opportunities to get personalized support. View the Open Enrollment Events calendar for fest details and to register for webinars and 1:1 appointments.
Flu and COVID vaccines
In partnership with the Medical Faculty Associates (MFA), flu and COVID vaccine clinics will be held at the Foggy Bottom campus and Virginia Science and Technology Campus (VSTC) during October, including on the open enrollment fest dates. Those who wish to receive their vaccine(s) at one of the clinics are strongly encouraged to register in advance. Insurance information will be collected during the registration process. GW faculty/staff enrolled in a GW medical plan, please have your UHC ID card available when registering. For more details, visit 2024 GW Flu and COVID Vaccines Services.
Employees covered by a GW medical plan can also visit area pharmacies and convenience care clinics to receive a flu shot at no cost. If visiting one of these, please present your CVS Caremark ID card.
For information about other benefits and programs available to you, including retirement, tuition and well-being, please visit the benefits website.
Questions regarding the enrollment process, system or any of GW’s health and welfare employee benefit plans may be directed to the Benefits Call Center at 833-698-0324 or [email protected].