The District, VESPA, and VUEA recently met over several negotiation sessions to discuss Health and Welfare Benefit Plans, including Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and a District contribution for 2024.
The parties have agreed to, and the Board of Education has approved the following:
- Four health plans, our two current plans (HMO & PPO), and two new additional plans (HMO & PPO)* that also offer HSAs.
- The District will contribute the following to plans or HSAs as follows:
VUEA:
a. $3,320 – to employees who work 80% or greater
b. $2,490 – to employees who work 75% to 79%
c. $1,660 – to employees who work 50% to 74%
VESPA:
a. $3320 for employees who work 28-40 hours per week
b. $ 2490 For employees who work 20-27.99 hours per week
- The HSA belongs to the employee. Employees who leave the District and/or retire would keep the money in their HSA.
- The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is in place effective January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024, and shall sunset on December 31, 2024, at the end of the Health and Welfare benefit plan year. This MOU may be modified or extended by the mutual consent of VESPA, VUEA, and the District no later than 30 days before open enrollment for the Health and Welfare benefit plan year.
Ventura Unified School District employees will be able to participate in the Health and Welfare Benefits Open Enrollment from October 1, 2023, through November 10, 2023. All changes made during Open Enrollment will go into effect on January 1, 2024.
*Ventura Unified School District will be offering two new Consumer Directed Health Plans (CDHP), Anthem CDHP PPO 90 and Kaiser Permanente CDHP DHMO $1,600, which will allow participants in these plans to establish and contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA). Ventura Unified will also continue to offer the current Anthem Blue Cross PPO plan and Kaiser Permanente HMO plans.
To help employees explore their health and welfare benefit options, VUSD’s Risk Management/Insurance Department will host Open Enrollment Benefits Fairs. Information on the Benefit Plans and these Fairs has been sent to employees.
We will continue to keep you updated on developments as our negotiations continue. The District, VUEA, and VESPA are all vested in maintaining a dedicated and talented workforce of educators and support professionals to ensure the success of our students.
