• Life insurance beneficiary
• Check paychecks, benefits online at ESS
• Enrollment discounts for YMCA
• Drop ineligible dependents
• Health care for college-bound kids
• Mail-order prescription drugs reduce costs for all plan members
• Antibiotics and superbugs

Life insurance beneficiary

If you have an event that alters your life, you should consider updating your life insurance beneficiary form. Life events include birth of a child, marriage, adoption, death, and divorce. You may request a beneficiary change form from your HR liaison or benefits division at 611 Walker, 4th floor. Benefits also keeps a file of forms that you completed to elect benefits and to designate your life insurance beneficiary. You may review your benefits file at 611 Walker, 4th floor, after providing proper identification. Information will not be released by telephone.

Check paychecks, benefits online at ESS
The city is moving to a paperless payroll effective with September paychecks. To review pay stubs, access the city’s Employee Self Service system at https://cohapp.cityofhouston.gov/ESS/Benefits.aspx.

Deputy City Controller Lloyd Waguespack recommends employees use direct deposit. To answer questions, the central payroll office launched a new helpline at 713-837-9529. Patricia Taylor, Finance and Administration systems support analyst is monitoring inquiries.

Deductions for health and life insurance, deferred compensation, and municipal pension can also be reviewed. The site is only available from city of Houston computers.

Drop ineligible dependents
Your dependent is ineligible for coverage under your benefits plans when:

• your spouse is no longer married to you;
  
• your dependent child is married or does not qualify as a dependent under federal income tax rules;
  
• your dependent child is age 25; or when;
  
• your dependent child was disabled before age 25 and approved to continue coverage after age 25 but is no longer disabled or has not been approved for coverage after 25.
  

If you do not drop your ineligible dependents, you will be liable for any paid medical or dental claims. A life insurance payment will not be paid on the death of an ineligible person. You will not receive refunds of premiums paid for coverage of your dependents who are not eligible for plan coverage.

Mail-order prescription drugs reduce costs for all plan members
Participants may order prescription drugs from their plan’s mail-order company and receive a 90-day supply for a two-month copayment, instead of a three-month copayment. Your physician must write the prescription for a 90-day supply (not three months) and authorize refills. If you request mail order for a 30-day supply, the mail-order company will charge the higher mail-order copayment. If you purchase prescriptions at a local participating pharmacy, your physician should write the prescription for a 30-day supply and authorize refills. See the chart below for prescription copayments and a list of mail-order pharmacies for all city health plans.

Health care for college-bound kids
If you have dependents going away to college soon, the HMO Away From Home program is ideal for you. The program gives employees and dependents temporarily living outside the Texas HMO Service Area access to local medical services.

Medical services are provided by a BlueCross BlueShield HMO affiliate. The employee’s biweekly HMO contribution will not increase, but copayments might be different from BCBSTX HMO. All HMO rules apply: a PCP must coordinate care; nonemergency out-of-network services must be approved; established co-payments will apply for all services; seek emergency medical treatment at the nearest medical facility.

To enroll, the employee-parent or the dependent over age 18 must complete a registration form. For more information, call Benefits at 713-837-9400.

Antibiotics and superbugs
Experts warn against the overuse of antibiotics because of the possibility that bacteria would develop resistance to the drugs we use to kill them. Keep these tips in mind when you receive your next antibiotic prescription:

• Don't badger your doctor for unnecessary antibiotics. Antibiotics don't work against viral infections such as colds or flu.
  
• Ask about alternatives if your doctor suggests long-term antibiotics for a chronic bacterial infection such as acne.
  
• Avoid broad-spectrum antibiotics, if possible, when an illness requires an antibiotic. (Broad spectrum means they kill good bacteria along with the bad.) Broad-spectrum antibiotics include Cleocin, Cipro, Floxin, and Levaquin.

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