Your Health Care Facilitator Program specializes in troubleshooting the use of UC health plans—and coordinating them with Medicare
UC/Anthem contract termination does not affect UC employee/retiree medical plans
Anthem Blue Cross has terminated its agreement with UC Health, including UC Davis Health. If a new agreement is not in place by December 31, 2023, UC Davis Health will be considered out-of-network for (non-UC) Anthem Blue Cross members beginning January 1, 2024.
Per UC Davis Health: This termination does not affect the in-network availability of UC Health facilities and providers for UC employees, UC students with UC SHIP coverage, UC medical residents and fellows in the PPO plan or UC retirees. Their health plans are governed by separate UC-Anthem agreements.
Open Enrollment for 2024
UC health plans will be open for enrollment from 10/26–11/17/2023. Look for your Open Enrollment packet in the mail at the end of October.
The UC Medical Plan Overview (for employees) and UC Retiree Medical Plans presentations will be updated with information for 2024 by the end of October.
2023 UC health plans
Open Enrollment ended at 5 p.m. on Friday, 11/18/2022. Still, you can learn more about UC's medical plans—all year long—using the following resources:
How much? Premiums for 2023:
- Employee rates [PDF]
- Note: The UC Blue & Gold HMO rates on the UCnet website are NOT the rates for UC Davis and ANR employees.
- Retiree rates: 2023 UC Retiree Premium Estimator [Excel]
Where? Regional medical plan availability:
The 2023 UC Medical Plan Availability Tool [Excel] indicates plan availability by ZIP code and county.
Who? Local Davis/Sacramento medical provider availability by plan:
- More On UC Medical Plans [PDF]; lists all major local medical groups.
- UC Davis Medical Group is available through all non-Kaiser plans
Who else? Search for network providers across California and beyond:
- Anthem Blue Cross PPOs:
- CORE
- UC Health Savings Plan
- UC Care (Click on Recognitions tab to determine if provider is UC Select or Anthem Preferred.)
- Preferred providers outside the U.S.A. (Use code QUC to search.)
- UC Medicare PPO, UC High Option
- Health Net: UC Blue & Gold HMO (Urban CA only.)
- Kaiser Permanente/Senior Advantage (HMO) (Urban CA only.)
- UnitedHealthcare: UC Medicare Choice (Medicare Advantage PPO)
Which? Compare medical plans side-by-side:
- Which medical plan is right for you? [PDF] (Employees & Retirees)
- Which Medicare plan is right for you? [PDF] (Retirees with Medicare)
How to get more information? UCnet health plan phone numbers and web addresses
- Anthem Blue Cross (non-Medicare) | Anthem Blue Cross (retirees with Medicare)
- Navitus (Pharmacy Benefit Manager)
- HealthEquity (HSA plan administrator—UC Health Savings Plan members only.)
- Health Net
- Kaiser Permanente
- Optum behavioral health (Access Code: 11280) (Non-Medicare Kaiser members only.)
- UnitedHealthcare (Medicare retirees only)
- Via Benefits (Age 65+ Medicare-eligible retirees with home addresses outside California only; all covered family members must have Medicare.)
- Delta Dental
- Vision Service Plan for Active Employees
- Vision Service Plan for Retirees
Telemedicine as a COVID-19 precaution
Several UC medical plans offer coverage for over-the-phone or web-based virtual visits. Please consider taking advantage of them to reduce your exposure to COVID-19 by staying home.
More information: Coronavirus updates for UC employees
Additionally, all UC medical plans offer 24-hour nurse advice lines; see the back of your medical plan ID card for the phone number.
UC considers changes to retiree health contributions
A Retiree Health Benefits Working Group has been formed to provide input regarding reductions and/or changes in strategy toward UC's contributions to retiree health coverage. More information can be found on UCnet.
See the UC Davis Retiree Center site for updates on the Working Group.
UC simplifies retiree health benefits rules
To simplify administration and respond to the concerns of newer employees hired before 7/1/2013, UC changed the eligibility rules for retiree health benefits.
Did You Know?
Most of the medical plans that the university offers to employees and retirees cover 30-day supplies of prescription drugs for a flat copayment. However, if you take medications on an ongoing basis, you can save money by using University of California pharmacies. At UC pharmacies, you can get 90-day supplies of your drugs for two copayments — you pay 1/3 less!
If you are enrolled in some of the Anthem Blue Cross plans (UC Care, UC High Option, UC Medicare PPO); UC Blue & Gold HMO (Health Net) or UC Medicare Choice (UnitedHealthcare):
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UC Davis outpatient pharmacies (in Davis and Sacramento).
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Don't live near a UC pharmacy? You can get the same two co-payment deal for 90-day supplies through some plans at certain local retail pharmacies and/or through your plan's mail order pharmacy.
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UC Blue & Gold HMO (Health Net): Local CVS pharmacies
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UC Care (Anthem Blue Cross): Local Costco, CVS, Safeway/Vons, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies
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UC High Option (Anthem Blue Cross): Local Costco, CVS, Safeway/Vons, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies
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UC Medicare PPO (Anthem Blue Cross): Local Costco, CVS, Safeway/Vons, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies
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UC Medicare Choice (UnitedHealthcare): Local Costco, CVS, Rite Aid, Safeway, Target, Walmart, and Walgreens pharmacies
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Click here for medical plan contact information. Log on to your plan's website as a member to access links to their mail order pharmacy programs.