All BENTE members received an email Tuesday morning, where President Dan DiClemente stated:

" I am happy to report that we have made some gains this year in health and dental insurance coverage. The District is changing its carrier for dental insurance from Health Economics Group (HEG) to Excellus, broadening the network to include a much larger network of participating dentists. The annual maximum will also be increased from $1200 to $1300.

As far as health insurance, all benefits remain the same, with the addition of hearing aids, which are now covered for members under 65 years of age with a $2,000 maximum.

The rates for active employees will increase 2.8% this year; far lower than the double digit increases we were paying prior to the District moving to a single carrier and becoming self-insured.  Healthy Rewards is being phased out by Excellus and will be replaced with a new program called "Rally."

You will soon receive information from the Benefits department describing all of the updates, so please be patient as our members in the department are working hard to implement these beneficial changes."