2012 Annual Open Enrollment             

2012 Annual Open Enrollment ended on November 23, 2011. To view your 2012 Annual Open Enrollment elections click here.

What to expect now that Annual Open Enrollment has ended…… 

Effective Date of Coverage Changes

Most of your Open Enrollment changes will go into effect on January 1, 2012.  The exceptions are:

• Short Term Disability - July 1, 2012 for first time elections
• Supplemental Life Insurance – Amounts requiring Evidence of Insurability will go into effect as soon as Unum approves the additional coverage. Scroll down to Supplemental Life Insurance Changes to learn more.

 Additional Forms and Documentation

If you are declining coverage or enrolling an eligible family member you must provide supporting documentation and additional forms no later than December 31, 2011.  These documents include: 

• Decline Coverage Acknowledgement Form if you elected a Decline Medical Plan
• State Certified Birth Certificates
• State Certified Marriage Certificates
• Declaration for Legal Guardianship
• Declaration of Domestic Partnership and documentation required by the Declaration.

These additional documents and forms are required in order for Costco to approve your request.  A delay in providing these documents or forms will result in late notification to the insurance companies of your coverage change and delays in proper payroll deductions.  You can avoid these delays by submitting all of your additional documentation and forms to the Costco Employee Benefit Department immediately.

In any case, if these documents and forms are not received by December 31, 2011 your Open Enrollment requests will be cancelled and you will have to wait until the next Annual Open Enrollment or a qualified change in status to request these changes again.

 Final Confirmation Statements

A final confirmation statement reflecting your 2012 benefit selections will be mailed to you at your home address in mid-December.  You have until January 31, 2012 to report any errors to the Benefit Department. 

To report an error simply write the correction on the Confirmation Statement.  Be sure to sign and date your correction.  Forward the Confirmation Statement to the Benefit Department by:

• Fax 425/427-3069
• Intercompany Mail to Location 99 – Attn: Benefits Department Open Enrollment
• Mail to Costco Wholesale, PO Box 34195, Seattle, WA 98124 Attn:  Benefits Department Open Enrollment.

 Supplemental Life Insurance Changes

If you made changes to your Supplemental Life Insurance amounts you may need to complete an Evidence of Insurability application. If an Evidence of Insurability application is required, one will be sent to your home address by late December. There are two ways to complete an Evidence of Insurability application: 

• Complete the paper application and return it to:

• Use Unum’s secure web site to submit your Evidence of Insurability application. The URL path for the web site is available on your Evidence of Insurability application.

You must complete your Evidence of Insurability application and submit it to Unum within 30 days of the date the application was mailed.

 To view your 2012 Supplemental Life Insurance elections click here.

 New cards

Below are cards that will be mailed to employees (Does not include Puerto Rico Employees):

 December: 

• EnvisionRXOptions, the new Pharmacy Administrator, will mail a new Pharmacy Card to all employees (including Hawaii). Click here to learn more.
• Two Flexible Spending Account Debit Cards will be mailed to all employees that elected a 2012 Health Care Reimbursement Account. Click here to learn more.

 January: 

• New Medical Cards mailed to all employees (except Hawaii).
• New Dental Cards mailed to employees who:
  • Elected coverage for the first time
  • Added or dropped a family member
  • Changed dental plans 

You can contact Aetna, HMSA or EnvisionRXOptions at anytime to request additional cards or if you do not receive your new cards by the end of January. Click here for contact information.