THERE ARE THREE REQUIRED FORMS THAT YOU MUST COMPLETE AND SUBMIT TO THE BENEFITS OFFICE WITHIN 30 DAYS OF HIRE TO ESTABLISH YOUR BENEFITS.  

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO COMPLETE AND SUBMIT ELECTRONIC FORMS HERE 

1. Health Insurance Enrollment Form OR

   1 A. Waiver Form if you decline to enroll in District Health Insurance

2. Group Life Insurance Enrollment Form -Required

3. Employee Notification Acknowledgement - Required

4. Limited Use HRA Form - Required & renewed every fiscal year, you will receive an email from the Benefits Manager at renewal time

Optional Benefits

• Pre-Tax Retirement Savings - 403(b) and/or 457(b) Deferred Compensation

• Health and/or Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account

• Commuter Benefit Account

• Employee Assistance Program

DISCLAIMER

Health insurance and benefits for exempt employees are individually negotiated by contract.  Some or all of the information below may or may not be relevant to a specific employee's negotiated contract.  Any information below does not supersede the language of the employee's individually negotiated contract.  

Health Insurance Eligibility

There are 4 premium Highmark of WNY plans for you to choose from. You may choose to have single or family coverage. View the eligibility guidelines to determine who can be considered a dependent for family coverage.  

The effective date of the insurance coincides with your hire date unless you submit your completed enrollment forms more than 30 days post your hire date.  Then, your effective date is the first of the following month.

Comparison of Health Insurance Plans

We are unable to advise in choosing a health insurance plan.  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires Group Health Plans to provide a Summary of Benefits and Coverage for each available plan. These comprehensive descriptions are designed to provide standardized information for the purpose of comparison. To access the summaries for the plans available to you please click here: Exempt Summary of Benefits and Coverage or contact the Benefits Office via email to request a paper copy.

You can also view a health insurance comparison chart and the complete plan documents are available here:

• Plan A

• Plan B

• Plan C

• Plan D

Traditional Insurance - There is no network to choose from, so this plan provides the flexibility of going to any medical provider.  (It is imperative that I go to Doctor X, no matter what!)

Plan A may work for an employee/dependent(s) who travels extensively, especially internationally, or for someone/dependent who has a unique medical situation for which they need specialized services and/or equipment.  This plan has a $150 single, $300 family deductible (in addition to bi-weekly payroll contribution), which the employee must meet before insurance kicks in.  Please review the services on pages 3 & 4 of the detailed chart that follows, as those tend to require a 20% co-insurance of the cost of the service/procedure/equipment.  This means the District pays 80% of the bill, and the employee is responsible for 20% of the bill (out of pocket maximum is $500 single and $1000 family).

Point of Service (POS) Insurance – Enrollees must choose from doctors enrolled in the network, or be required to pay co-insurance for the cost of their service.  (It is not imperative that I go to Doctor X, I can find another highly qualified doctor, in my area, that is enrolled in the Highmark network).

Plans B, C, and D may work for an employee/dependent(s) who generally remains in the Western New York region for the majority of their time, and are not experiencing unique medical situations that need specialized services and/or equipment.  These are generic POS plans, with the majority of services requiring a $15 co-pay, which helps an employee/dependent(s) budget for medical costs for the year (x number of doctor’s visits/year x $15 = out of pocket expenses). 

Differences between these three plans are Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetic Devices, Diabetic Supplies, Skilled Nursing Facilities, and Out of Network (travel and specialization).  You are greatly encouraged to review these differences in the comparison chart (above) and ask yourself questions about your current and future health insurance needs in an effort to decide among the three.

Please be advised that once a plan is chosen, it cannot be changed until our open enrollment period yearly in November.

To find out if a doctor is in the Highmark of WNY network, visit the WNY Network website.

2024 - 25 Health Contributions

Eligible employees shall contribute to health insurance at the rate of 20% of the cost of the premium. All contributions will be taken pre-tax. 

Plan A - Traditional

Plan B - POS

Plan C - POS

Plan D - POS

Your application will be processed when your appointment is approved by the Board and all completed paperwork and required documentation is received in the Benefits Office.

If you are receiving health insurance coverage from another source: You are eligible to participate in the Waiver Program, which entitles you to $100 per month in lieu of health insurance. This benefit is time-sensitive and not retroactive.  

If you are married to a Board of Education Employee, you are only eligible for one family policy. The employee not enrolled in health insurance may take advantage of the Waiver Program by completing the form.

The form is listed as 1 A. at the top of this webpage.

Life Insurance is provided at no cost to you.  You are required to have a form on file to identify your beneficiaries. It is also advisable to update this form periodically as you experience life-changing events.  Life insurance is only provided for the employee and ceases upon separation from the District.

Group Life Insurance Enrollment Form

Learn more about your rights to health insurance and benefits, including detailed information on Employee's Responsibility for Health Insurance, Open Enrollment, Summary of Benefits and Coverage, COBRA, HIPAA, the District's Grandfathered Status of the ACA, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act, Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act, and Exchange Notice.  Retain this Employee Notification for your records.

Employee Notification Acknowledgement

The District provides you with a Dental/Vision Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). Each exempt employee is credited annually with $1,375 plus an additional $1,000 for each eligible family member. This amount will be pro-rated for the year, based on your date of hire.

This will also be renewed each fiscal year to confirm dependents. You will receive an email at time of renewal from the Benefits Manager.

Any unused funds will be rolled forward and added to your new annual allotment every July 1st.  Funds can be accessed at the point of service using your P&A Group debit card or by requesting reimbursement with a claim form and receipt.  Once your enrollment form is processed, log on to the P&A Group website to create and access your account.  Child dependents over the age of 19 are covered to age 25 only if they are full-time students. If any dependents were newly eligible or lost eligibility mid-year, a pro-rated amount was added or subtracted accordingly. 

Limited Use HRA Form

For more information and the enrollment forms on both Medical and Dependent Spending Accounts, please click below

For more information and the enrollment form on the Commuter Benefit Plan, please click below.

For more information on Tax-Shelter Annuity Accounts and how to enroll, please click below

The District provides an EAP service that provides free & confidential services to our employees and their family members who may be experiencing personal &/or work-related issues. 

For more information regarding our EAP, please click below

In June 2017, the Buffalo Board of Education approved the District Wellness Policy.  The District recognizes that in order to achieve student wellness, well-being and academic success employee wellness must also be stressed, emphasizing the importance of creating a District-wide workplace culture that supports employee health and wellness.