UF can start crafting insurance plans under GatorCare after the legislature approved faculty and staff to be self-insured with the plan last week.
GatorCare has been in the making for well over a year, vice president of Human Resource Services Paula Fussell said. About 22 self-insurance plans, including GatorGradCare, which covers graduate assistants, will fall under the GatorCare umbrella beginning Jan. 1, pending Gov. Rick Scott’s approval.
Details about individual plan options won’t be worked out until early-to-mid-summer, Fussell said.
Employees will be covered by GatorCare on the first day of hire rather than having to wait a month for their insurance to become effective.
Faculty Senate chairman Scott Nygren said faculty members have voiced concerns about whether they’ll be allowed to keep their doctors and whether they’ll be offered a preferred provider organization option with their health care plans.
Fussell said there will be an option that allows employees to keep their doctors, although plans might include incentives to use UF doctors in the GatorCare network.
The university is collecting feedback from faculty and staff members, graduate assistants and postdoctoral fellows to tailor insurance plan options to their needs, Fussell said.
Contact Erin Jester at ejester@alligator.org.
