Effective July 1, 2004, a new voluntary long-term care benefit program underwritten by John Hancock Life Insurance Company will be available to eligible active employees and their extended family members.

Our chances of needing long-term care are about one in three, far greater than our chances of being in a major car accident or having a home destroyed by fire. Yet many Americans have made few, if any, plans for how to meet their needs for long-term care.

Long-term care insurance can help you preserve and protect your financial resources and provide peace of mind to you and your family. The covered services include nursing home care, alternate care facility, stay at home benefits, informal care, and community based professional care.

The younger you are when you enroll in a long-term care insurance plan, the lower your monthly premium will be. You will want to be sure that you understand the options available to you for your particular age and situation.

Watch your home mail for literature from John Hancock, including a post card announcement followed by a letter that will contain a personal premium quotation for you. This plan will be available to extended family members at OSU’s group rate: spouses, children, siblings, parents, parents in-law, grandparents, and grandparents in-law. (Individuals must be at least age 18 and reside within the United States to apply.)

OSU employees will not need to provide proof of insurability if they enroll during the initial enrollment period of April 6 through June 11, 2004, for a July 1 effective coverage date. Proof of insurability will be required for all other family members.

John Hancock representatives are available at 1-800-482-0022 to answer your questions.

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Employees will be able to enroll in the long-term care plan through John Hancock’s website during the initial enrollment period without proof of insurability, http://osu.jhancock.com (username: osu; password: mybenefit). If this website is still under construction when you first try, keep checking—it should be available soon. Extended family members will need to answer a medical questionnaire, so a paper application form will be necessary for them. Proof of insurability is also required for extended family members, including spouses. Enrollment kits and assistance are available from the John Hancock Customer Service Center at 1-800-482-0022.

Premiums for employees and spouses will be deducted through OSU’s payroll system. Premiums are paid with after-tax dollars. The premiums for enrollees, other than active employees and their spouses, will be paid directly to John Hancock.

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Administrative Professional Day has grown to be our biggest event of the year in Training. This year is no exception! We only have a few seats left for this program.

Professionalism in the Eye of the Storm will be presented by nationally known speaker, Dondi Scumaci, Wednesday, April 21, from 9am to 3pm. Cost is $99.00 and a continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Enroll today! http://fp.okstate.edu/hrosu/training_enroll.htm.

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Due to popular demand, TIAA-CREF has increased the time that their representatives spend on the OSU-Stillwater campus. If you would like to meet with a TIAA-CREF counselor, call 1-800-842-2006 to schedule an appointment for April 7, 8, 14, or 15.

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OSU Human Resources will host a Benefits Fair on April 6 and 7, 2004. In response to employee requests, this Benefits Fair will spotlight retirement and investment information. This is your opportunity to meet with representatives from our group insurance and retirement companies as well as representatives from various tax deferred annuity companies and financial planners. In addition to the useful information and literature, there will be drawings and gifts from many of the vendors.

There will be concurrent presentations going on all day Tuesday, April 6, in rooms 408 and 412 of the Student Union while the exhibit booths are open in the Ballroom. On Wednesday, April 7, there will be a second day of presentations. Review the schedule below to see what interests you the most.

An Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System representative will present twice on Tuesday to help explain the complexities of this retirement plan, including the benefits calculation and pending legislation. TIAA-CREF will give additional information about the nine new investment options. OSU Employee Services will present the regular quarterly New Employee Retirement Information sessions for employees who are newly eligible for OSU-paid retirement contributions (age 26 with one year of service). This presentation will be coupled with TIAA-CREF’s Asset Allocation presentation so that you can learn how to direct your OSU-paid TIAA-CREF contributions once they begin.

We will also have our first opportunity to hear John Hancock representatives explain the new Long-Term Care plan. If you still have questions regarding the new supplemental life insurance, the ING Employee Benefits presentation will be of interest to you.

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Have you checked the University Human Resources website, www.okstate.edu/osu_per/ lately? We are continually adding information that we believe will give employees the information they need to understand issues related to their employment with OSU.

Web for Employees is located at http://prodhosu.okstate.edu/. You can view benefits, deductions, leave balances, pay, job history, and other personal information. Available from your home or office, Web for Employees also allows you to update certain information, such as your address and emergency contact. You will need to enter your employee id and personal identification numbers (PIN). If you have not used Web for Employees before, the PIN defaults to your birth date (mmddyy).

Employee Information has icons for special announcements including the latest on retirement issues, the 2004 Benefits Fair and recent benefits changes. Benefit Information has all the copies of the bright orange News You Can Use issues in case you can’t put your hands on the one that came by campus mail. Benefit forms and guides are quickly available in this area and can be downloaded as needed without having to make a trip to Employee Services.

Logins and Password Information helps you if you are having difficulty with access to any of your programs.

You may even be wondering what jobs are available on campus, for you or a friend, and with a simple click, Employment Opportunities gives you a world of information concerning job openings for all campuses.

Quick Links is an alphabetical list on our home page that can direct you to a multitude of other sites with valuable information (i.e., tax sites for federal and state). Employee Services is always available to help, but THE WEB is so easy and is open 24/7.

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OSU continues to press for changes to Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System. Actuarial reports have been received that determine the cost to eliminate new hires from participation, allow existing members an option to withdraw from OTRS if requested, and fix the retirement benefit formula. OSU and OU administrators are currently seeking clarification on the withdrawal surcharge rates that have been proposed by the OTRS actuary.

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