The surcharges are extra costs that have been added to faculty, staff, and some non-student benefit eligible WSU employees' standard monthly medical premiums, effective July 1, 2014. The state Legislature included the surcharge requirement in the state budget signed into law on June 30, 2013.

No. The Premium Surcharges only impact employees who are enrolled/eligible for the WSU/PEBB employee benefit package.  The Premium Surcharges are not applicable to the WSU Graduate Student Insurance Plan.

Tobacco Surcharge: A monthly $25 per account premium surcharge will be applied if an employee or any covered member of their family uses tobacco products.

Spouse or Domestic Partner Coverage Surcharge: A $50 per month premium surcharge will be applied if an employee's spouse/registered domestic partner is enrolled on the employee's WSU/PEBB plan, and the spouse/registered domestic partner elected to waive his or her own employer-based group health coverage which is comparable to  the WSU/PEBB Uniform Medical Plan.

A Surcharge Attestation form is required for all new benefit eligible employees enrolling in medical coverage.  You have 31 days from your date of hire/benefit eligibility to submit this form. 

If no form is submitted:

• Tobacco Use Surcharge: Your account will default to a "Yes" answer, and you will be charged the Tobacco Surcharge of $25.00 per month.
• Spousal Coverage Surcharge:  If you enroll a spouse/registered domestic partner on your coverage, but do not address the spousal surcharge, you will be defaulted to "Yes, your spouse/registered domestic partner does have comparable coverage available, and has chosen to enroll on your PEBB account", and you will be charged the Spousal Surcharge of $50.00 per month.

All new, benefit eligible employees will need to address the surcharges.  Paperwork to do so is included in your new employee benefits packet. 

Any existing employees who experience a change in tobacco status for themselves or a covered family member need to complete a new Surcharge Attestation form, and submit the form to HRS.

Any existing employee whose covered spouse experiences a change in the medical plans offered through their employer, please contact HRS at (509)335-4521 or hrs@wsu.edu to determine if a new Surcharge Attestation form is required. 

Premium surcharges started on the July 10, 2014 paycheck.  Academic or cyclic employee saw their first premium surcharges on the September 10, 2014 paycheck, which also collected any retroactive surcharges due from July 1, 2014. 

Yes.

Tobacco Surcharge: If you and all of your covered family members are non-tobacco users, you can submit a Surcharge Attestation form to update your account.  This update will take effect the first of the month following the date the form is submitted.  Appeal options are available if you would like to request this change be made retroactively.  Please contact HRS at (509)335-4521 or hrs@wsu.

Spousal Coverage Surcharge: If you are carrying your spouse/registered domestic partner and their coverage is less than the comparable value to the Uniform Medical Plan (UMP) Classic, you can submit a Surcharge Attestation form to update your account.  This update will take effect the first of the month following the date the form is submitted.  Appeal options are available if you would like to request this change be made retroactively.  Please contact HRS at (509)335-4521 or hrs@wsu.

Similar to your regular medical and life insurance premiums, the surcharges for the summer/cyclic break will generally be collected the last pay period(s) prior to your summer or cyclic break, which for most individuals will be on the May 25th paycheck. 

Yes, the surcharges will be added to the self-pay premiums.

No. They are a state Legislature decision.

This was the date identified in the state Legislature decision.

You are not be subject to either of the surcharges, due to your waiving your WSU/PEBB coverage.

No. When responding to the Premium Surcharge questions, only employees with a spouse/registered domestic partner covered on their WSU/PEBB plan will be prompted to answer the spouse/registered domestic partner coverage premium surcharge question.

Existing employees attested to the status and level of your spouse/registered domestic partner's own employer-based group health coverage, if any, via an online questionnaire through your HCA "My Account".

New employees will attest to the status and level of your spouse/registered domestic partner's own employer-based group health coverage, if any, via the paper Surcharge Attestation form.

You will be asked if your spouse/registered domestic partner:

• Is eligible for medical coverage through their employer.
• Has an employer who offers a medical plan that serves their county of residence.
• Has chosen not to enroll in their employer plan.
• Has coverage that is not through another PEBB program.
• Their share of the medical premium under their employer plan is less than $84.56 per month.

If the answer to all of the above is "yes", you may have to pay the spousal surcharge. Please obtain a copy of your spouse/registered domestic partner's "Summary of Benefits and Coverage", and be prepared to answer additional questions through HCA's Spousal Plan Calculator.

No. The premium surcharge will not be applied if your spouse/registered domestic partner waived WSU/PEBB coverage.

No. The premium surcharge will not be applied if your spouse/registered domestic partner is enrolled in both your WSU/PEBB coverage and their own non-WSU/PEBB employer-based group health coverage.

If in the future, your spouse/registered domestic partner's employer-based group health coverage changes to be of comparable value to the Uniform Medical Plan (UMP) Classic, you can elect to waive them from your coverage at that time. Please contact the Pullman HRS office as soon as possible to adjust your account.

The Uniform Medical Plan (UMP) Classic is being used as the comparison plan, since it is the PEBB plan with the largest enrollment.

The surcharge legislation required the PEBB Program to add “…a surcharge of not less than $50 per month to the premiums due from members who cover a spouse or domestic partner where the spouse or domestic partner has chosen not to enroll in other employer-based group health insurance that has benefits and premiums with an actuarial value of not less than 95 percent of the actuarial value of the public employees’ benefits board (PEBB) plan with the largest enrollment.”

No. The premium surcharge will not apply if your covered spouse/registered domestic partner has waived/deferred Medicare Part B to enroll in your WSU/PEBB coverage.

Yes. Changes can be made to your plan(s) each year during Open Enrollment, which takes place in the month of November, with changes taking effect the following January 1.  If you would like to make changes outside of Open Enrollment, you may do so if you experience a life changing event that triggers a special open enrollment.  Please visit http://ihr.hrs.wsu.edu/Benefit%20Changes or contact HRS at (509)335-4521 to see if you are eligible to make benefit changes.

A tobacco user is someone who has used any tobacco products within the last two months. However, this does not include tobacco use for religious or ceremonial purposes.

Tobacco includes any product made with or derived from tobacco that is intended for human consumption, including any component, part or accessory of a tobacco product. This includes, but is not limited to, cigars, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff and other tobacco products. It does not include FDA approved quit aids or e-cigarettes at this time.

Existing employees attested to their tabacco use status, as well as any other family members covered under the employee's health insurance, via an online questionnaire through your HCA "My Account", or by completing a Surcharge Attestation form.

New employees will attest to the smoking status of themselves and any other family members covered under the employee's health insurance via the paper Surcharge Attestation form.

Yes, available through your PEBB medical plan. There may be no cost for the programs depending upon the services received. Please contact your medical plan or read your Certificate of Coverage for more information about this benefit.

Yes. If you do not answer the tobacco use surcharge question(s), you will be defaulted to the "tobacco user" category and will be assessed the tobacco use surcharge.

No. The surcharge will not apply.

No. The surcharge will not apply.

No. You will only be charged the $25 premium surcharge once per month, regardless of how many family members use tobacco products.

Yes. The tobacco use surcharge applies whether your covered dependents live with you or not.

If you and/or a covered family member is currently a tobacco user, but in the future stops using tobacco products, you can request to have the tobacco use surcharge removed once you or your covered family member are tobacco free for at least two months. This is only applicable if you and all your covered family members do not use tobacco at that point.

If you and/or a covered family member begins using tobacco, please contact HRS Pullman to update your previous attestation. Your tobacco use surcharge will then begin to be collected from your future pay.

The state's current contract with the life insurance company requires non-tobacco use for 12 months before the tobacco status can be changed. Your tobacco status between these two programs are looked at separately.

The definition of a tobacco user is someone who has used any tobacco product within the last two months.