Through the City, Active benefitted employees have access to a flexible benefit package that you can apply to your medical, dental, vision, and life insurance premiums. This is awesome! Because if you play your cards right, you’ll be able to get a wide array of benefits for little to no cost!
The only downside is that for many employees, this program is use it or lose it, and it tends to get a bit complicated because there are a lot of variables to consider.
The actual dollar amount you are eligible for varies based on when you started working for the City, who you are providing medical coverage for (e.g., your spouse, kids, or whole family); who represents you (e.g., MEA, Local-127, SDPOA, etc.); and, in some cases, your job title.
In order to figure out the amount of flex dollars available to you, you first need to decide who you’ll be covering on your medical plan. Are you just covering yourself (Employee Only)? Are you covering yourself and your spouse/domestic partner (Employee + Partner)? Are you just covering yourself and your kids (Employee + Children)? Or are you covering yourself, your spouse/domestic partner and your kids (Family)?
Once you’ve made that choice, you can find out how much money you’ll be able to put toward your annual premiums by clicking here and going to your specific representation’s site. It’s important to note, that in order to qualify for any of the plans that include your family, that family member must be enrolled in your medical plan (e.g., Sharp, Kaiser, Cigna).
For SDPOA and Lifeguards employees are able to cash-out their credits if they wave their benefits or only enroll in employee-only medical coverage. All other employees hired before July 1st, 2020, can only cash-out if they waive all benefits or enroll exclusively in employee-only medical coverage.
For non-safety employees hired after July 1st, 2020, you are able to waive your medical benefits, but you will only receive $1,000 to put toward other benefits (dental, vision, or your FSA) or can be cashed-out.
Use it or Lose it! - Make the Most out of Your Flex
Once you’ve determined how much money you’ll have to put toward benefits, you’ll need to do some math. You need to sign up for medical insurance with your flex dollars, so pick which plan works best for you and subtract that value from your total flex dollars. The remaining value can be put toward dental, vision, life insurance, and even a flexible spending account at no cost to you.
You can of course sign up for more than your flex dollar allotment, but you will be paying any amount over that through payroll deductions. You can check the plans below (pay attention to which plans are offered to which representation) and do the math to see exactly how you can get the most out of your flex dollars!
To put it plainly take your Flex Dollar Credit and then subtract your insurance premiums (medical, dental, vision, and life). If you end up with a negative number, that’s how much you’ll be paying annually for benefits, if you have a positive number your premiums will be covered at no cost to you!
Note: If you are only covering yourself (Employee Only) and you’re a safety employee or were hired before July 1st, you can “cash-out” your flex dollars. Just remember that group rates for insurance are usually cheaper than rates you can find on your own!
Available Plans
The information in the sections below are all taken from the City’s site https://www.sandiego.gov/risk-management/open-enrollment-fy-2022
Medical Plans
Cigna