Health Insurance

2025 Medical Plan Information

• Highmark Blue Shield: (844) 945-5509

Active Employee Health Plan ID Cards:

• Full-time and part-time employees enrolled in a medical plan election for 2025, WILL receive new ID cards from Highmark Blue Shield, with an expected arrival date at their homes prior to January 1, 2025.
• Highmark ID cards will be for both medical and prescription coverage on one card.

If you have not received your card by January 2, 2025:

• You should first check/update your mailing address on file at accounts.psu.edu or contact HR Services at (814) 865-1473 for address change assistance.
• Call Highmark at (844) 945-5509 to request additional ID cards be mailed to your home.
• You may also download the My Highmark phone app or use your computer to access your My Highmark account to obtain your digital ID card.

Health Plans

Penn State Health Plans are administered by Highmark. There are two health plan options for eligible employees to choose from; the Lion Traditional and the Lion Advantage HSA plans. 

Employees should visit our frequently asked questions for more details regarding this partnership.

The Highmark Concierge Team can be reached directly at 844-945-5509. If you are a current Penn State medical plan member, you may access your specific plan information via the Highmark microsite for Penn State. If you are not a current Penn State medical plan member, you may visit the main Highmark website for more information.

Lion Advantage HSA | Lion Traditional

Regular full-time faculty and staff members are eligible to enroll in Penn State’s Health Care Plan. For information about spouse and dependent children eligibility, please see Dependent Eligibility.

Part-time faculty and staff members can become eligible for medical coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations. There is a small group of part-time employee grandfathered under a former policy, for which additional details regarding this plan can be found within the health care premium comparison below. The same dependent eligibility outlined for full-time faculty and staff also applies for part-time faculty and staff.

Postdoctoral appointees: As per postdoctoral eligibility, the per-pay contribution rates follow the same salary-based premium schedule as for faculty and staff. For additional information regarding the benefits available to postdoctoral appointees, please contact or visit the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Please note that if you are a Postdoctoral Fellow, or a J1 Visa holder, you are only eligible for the Lion Traditional plan.

Postdoctoral SCHOLARS are ELIGIBLE for the Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Postdoctoral FELLOWS are NOT ELIGIBLE for either Flexible Spending Account (FSA). When any Postdoctoral appointment is changing to a full-time Faculty, Staff, or Technical Service position, you will become newly eligible for an FSA. In order to enroll in an FSA after changing from a Postdoctoral appointment to a full-time Faculty, Staff, or Technical Service position, please submit a Workday benefit change request to "Change Flexible Spending" in addition to submitting your Job Change benefit elections.

If you or your dependents are no longer eligible for the health plans, information will be mailed from Lifetime Benefit Solutions regarding continuing coverage under COBRA. Additional information regarding COBRA benefits can be found on our COBRA website.

Becoming Medicare eligible (turning age 65) as an active employee or your spouse is becoming Medicare eligible:

As an active employee, your Penn State medical plan is considered primary for you and your eligible dependents; so as an active employee with Penn State group health coverage, there is no need to sign up for Medicare Parts A or B.

Part A is provided at no cost, so you can either enroll or decline Part A, but only if you are not currently enrolled or want to be enrolled in the future in the Lion Advantage HSA plan. Employees cannot be enrolled in Medicare Parts A or B, AND have pre-tax contributions to a Health Savings Account (HSA). Therefore, since Penn State automatically makes a pre-tax contribution annually to Lion Advantage HSA plan members' HSA, the employee cannot be enrolled in Medicare. Please note, your spouse could have Medicare, as this rule only applies to you, the employee.

Since there is a premium associated with Part B and it is secondary coverage, it may not make financial sense to pay for Part B. Please contact your local Social Security Office with any questions regarding Part B. Employees need to make the determination if it makes fiscal sense to enroll in Medicare as a secondary insurance.

Upon leaving employment/retirement, if you and/or your spouse are 65 plus, you will want to visit your local Social Security office three months prior to sign up for Medicare upon retirement.

Please be aware that if you are enrolled in the Lion Advantage HSA  plan, you must decline Parts A and B. Per IRS regulations, you, the employee, cannot be enrolled in Medicare Part A or B and be contributing to a Health Savings Account, which is automatically included with the Lion Advantage HSA plan; however you CAN insure your Medicare eligible dependent under the Lion Advantage HSA plan. It is important to note, upon turning 65, you are automatically enrolled in Part A if you are receiving Social Security benefits.

Dually-Employed at Penn State

Faculty/Staff or Postdoc: If you and your spouse are both employed at Penn State and are currently covered under one spouse’s medical plan, your coverage election must be made by the higher-paid spouse. It is important to note that while you may remain covered under one medical plan of the higher-paid spouse, you do have the option to move to separate plans if you wish.

Technical Service Employees: This applies if BOTH spouses are Technical Service employees; does not apply if the spouse is faculty or staff. It is important to note that while you may remain covered under one medical care plan of the higher-paid spouse, you do have the option to move to separate plan if you wish.

For reference, here are the possible combinations for employees choosing to be covered under one medical plan based on the above changes:

• Faculty/Staff/Postdoc + Faculty/Staff/Postdoc = Must be covered under the spouse with the higher salary
• Technical Service Employee + Technical Service Employee = Must be covered under the spouse with the higher salary
• Technical Service Employee + Faculty/Staff/Postdoc = Employees can choose which spouse will carry the policy

If you experience the following qualifying event changes:

1. Spouse becomes a new employee at Penn State and is the higher-paid spouse.
2. You and your spouse are both Penn State employees and a change of position for one of you changes the higher-paid spouse to the one not carrying coverage.

In either of these instances, you will NOT be required to change coverage to the higher-paid spouse mid-year. During the next annual benefits open enrollment period, you will need to make the appropriate changes for the higher-paid spouse to carry coverage if choosing to maintain coverage under only one spouse.