Annual Employee Benefits Open Summer Enrollment 2025

Annual Employee Benefits Open Summer Enrollment – 2025

Summertime is upon us and with it comes Annual Employee Benefits Open Summer Enrollment (Summer Enrollment).  While most employees are familiar with the summer enrollment process, others may need or want additional information to assist them in making important decisions regarding their benefit choices.  As such, your HR Benefits Team is providing the following information to help all employees better understand not only the summer enrollment process, but also their available benefits and the changes that will go into effect September 1, 2025.

What is Summer Enrollment?

Summer Enrollment is an annual event that allows employees to make changes to their health insurance and optional insurance coverages for the new plan year.  Changes made during this summer enrollment period will be effective September 1, 2025 for Plan-Year 2026 (September 1, 2025 thru August 31, 2026).  Premium and other changes will be reflected on your October 1, 2025 paycheck (September 15, 2025 for semi-monthly payroll).

What changes can I make during Summer Enrollment?

During summer enrollment employees may be able to:

• Enroll, change or waive benefit elections for medical, dental and vision plans.
• OPT OUT of medical coverage (an opt out credit may apply).
• Add or drop eligible dependents.
• Enroll, change or waive TexFlex elections.
• Apply for Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance, and Optional Term-Life and Dependent Term-Life Insurance (Evidence of Insurability is required).

When is Summer Enrollment 2025?

Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), the State of Texas Agency that serves as the benefit administrator for State agencies and most institutions of higher education in the State of Texas, sets the dates for summer enrollment and the summer enrollment dates for 2025 are:

• UNT Denton – July 7^th thru July 18^th
• UNT Dallas – July 7^th thru July 18^th
• UNT Health Science Center – July 7^th thru July 18^th
• UNT System Administration – July 7^th thru July 18^th

What premium changes are occurring for Plan-Year 2026?

Premium changes occurring in the new plan year include:

• Health Insurance Plans – Premiums in the HealthSelect of Texas plans, including Consumer Directed HealthSelect, will increase by 8%. ERS states this is the first increase in eight years and more information regarding the increase can be found by clicking this link https://www.ers.texas.gov/PDFs/Summer-Enrollment/2026-summer-enrollment/py26-whats-new-premium-increase-handout .
• Dental Insurance Plans – State of Texas Dental Choice premiums will increase by 8% for all participants, but DeltaCare USA dental health maintenance organization (DHMO) premiums will stay the same.
• Vision Plan – State of Texas Vision premiums will increase by 10%.
• Texas Income Protection Plans (TIPP) – There will be a small decrease in long-term disability rates and short-term disability rates will remain the same.

You can see all of the Plan Year 26 (PY26) rates by clicking this link https://www.ers.texas.gov/PDFs/rates-py26/py26-rate-sheet .

Where can I get information on upcoming summer enrollment webinars and how do I register?

Employees can obtain more information about the summer enrollment process, as well as information regarding available benefits and upcoming changes by attending an ERS Summer Enrollment Webinar offered by ERS, and one of multiple webinars offered by each of the benefit providers. You can obtain information and register for webinars by clicking this link https://www.ers.texas.gov/event-calendars/enrollment-events . Also, please note that ERS is planning to record the webinars they host. As in prior years we are planning to provide a link to the recorded webinars on the HR Benefits Summer Enrollment web page as they become available so that employees can access and view the webinars at their convenience.

Where can I get even more information?

In addition to attending a webinar, employees can obtain additional information by:

• Visiting the ERS Summer Enrollment web page at https://www.ers.texas.gov/active-employees/summer-enrollment-2026 .
• By accessing or downloading the ERS Summer Enrollment Guide at https://www.ers.texas.gov/PDFs/Summer-Enrollment/2026-summer-enrollment/py26-se-active-guide .
• Visiting the HR Benefits Summer Enrollment web page by clicking the Summer Enrollment link on the HR Benefits web page https://hr.untsystem.edu/benefits/index.php .
• Calling ERS at 1-877-275-4377, TTY 711, and Option 7 for Spanish (Opcion Siete (7) en Espanol).
• Emailing ERS at https://www.ers.texas.gov/Contact-ERS .
• Emailing the HR Benefits Team at HRbenefits@untsystem.edu .
• Spanish translated informational materials and assistance will be provided by ERS and some translation assistance can be provided by the HR Benefits Team.

What if I don’t want to make any changes to my benefits or dependents during summer enrollment?

No action is required if you do not want to make any changes to your benefits or dependents during summer enrollment 2025.  Your current benefit and dependent elections will simply roll forward to the new plan year on September 1, 2025.  Although, we highly recommend that all employees log into their ERS account to verify their contact and beneficiary information, as well as reconfirm their benefit and dependent elections and make any needed changes while you have the chance during summer enrollment.

Respectfully,

John B. Adair, Senior Director, Benefits