Health Benefit Plans
Medical - Dental - Vision
Washoe County offers its employees comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance coverage. Employees are eligible for health benefits after 90 days of employment.
New employees hired on or after July 1, 2016 will be enrolled in the High Deductible Health Plan with a Health Savings Account for a minimum of two plan years. After that time, employees have the option during Open Enrollment to select from one of our three health plans:
- Self-funded Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
- Self-funded High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA)
- Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
The County pays all or a portion of the premium cost for employee coverage based on employee contract agreements. For employees who wish to cover their dependents, employees pay 50% of dependent premiums. Premiums are deducted each pay period on a pre-tax basis.*
*Domestic Partner Premium is a post-tax deduction.
- Summary of Benefits/Enrollment Timelines
- 2023 Benefit Comparison
- Qualifying Life and Work Event Timeline
- Glossary of Terms
- Medical Insurance FAQs
Self-funded PPO Plan
The PPO Plan is administered by UMR and the United Healthcare Choice Plus network of providers.
Prescription benefits under this plan are managed by MaxorPlus.
High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a Health Savings Account (HSA)
The High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is administered by UMR and the United Healthcare Choice Plus network of providers. The HDHP is paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA) which is administered by American Fidelity Assurance Company.
Prescription benefits under this plan are managed by MaxorPlus.
HSA Contribution Worksheet (Understanding Your Maximum Contribution)
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
This plan is administered by Prominence Health Plan, with prescription benefits managed by Medimpact.
- Prominence HMO Summary of Benefits
- Prominence HMO Evidence of Coverage
- Prominence HMO Provider Network
This GAP Plan is administered by American Fidelity Assurance Company, and is designed to help cover a portion of your out-of-pocket expenses with the HMO group health plan.
Dental and Vision Benefits
The Dental and Vision benefits are the same for all employees, regardless of which medical coverage is elected. Coverage under the dental and vision benefit plans is bundled with the medical plans, so employees and their covered dependents are not able to opt out of any coverage offered.
The self-funded dental plan is administered by UMR and the network of PPO dental providers is managed by Guardian:
Find an In-Network Provider:
- Go to guardiananytime.com and select Search Providers
- Under Plan Type, select PPO
- Enter a Zip Code or City and State and Provider Last Name or Office Name, if available.
Self-funded vision benefits are with Vision Service Plan (VSP):
Vision Service Plan (VSP) Provider Network
Life Insurance
Washoe County provides basic life insurance coverage with a benefit maximum of $20,000. The benefit reduces to $13,000 at age 65 and $7,000 at age 70.
To enter/update life insurance beneficiary information, log into ESS, and select the Life and Work Events tab. Select the Beneficiary Change link and enter your beneficiary information.
ESS Life Insurance Beneficiary Instructions (printable version)
If you are unable to access ESS, please complete a Life Insurance Beneficiary Form and submit it to healthbenefitsmailbox@washoecounty.gov.
Supplemental life insurance is available for purchase; please see additional information under Supplemental Benefits web page.
COBRA
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) of 1985 mandates that employers offering health insurance with 20 or more employees must continue to offer employee benefits when they quit, are laid off or fired, or have their work hours reduced. Additionally, benefits must be offered to the employee’s spouse and dependents. COBRA benefits apply to health care plans, dental plans, vision plans, prescription drug plans, etc. Benefits may continue for up to 18, 24, 29 or 36 months, depending on the cause for the loss of benefits.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
Washoe County's Flexible Spending Benefit Plan is administered by American Fidelity Assurance Company.
Dependent Day Care Flexible Spending Account
- Online
- Log in to your online account
- Click the File a Claim button on the top of the page
- Select Reimbursement Account
- Complete the claim form
- Click the Submit button
- AFmobile
- Touch the Submit Reimbursement button on the AFmobile dashboard
- Complete the Claim Form
- Click the Submit button
- Fax or Mail
- Download and complete a Dependent Care Reimbursement/Provider Acknowledgement Form and include all applicable documentation. Please note, paper claim filing is not the fastest option.
Health Flexible Spending Account
- Online
- Log in to your online account
- Click on the File a Claim button
- Select Reimbursement Account(s)
- Complete the claim form
- Click the Submit button
- AFmobile
- Touch the Submit Reimbursement button on the AFmobile dashboard
- Complete the Claim Form
- Click the Submit button
- Fax or Mail
- Download and complete a Claim Form and include all applicable receipts and documentation. Please note, paper claim filing is not the fastest option. File a claim online or through AFmobile to get your money faster.
The benefit information provided is subject to change. If there are conflicts of benefit descriptions at any time, the plan document for that benefit will prevail.
Benefits - Quick Reference Sheet