Open Enrollment

For Adjunct Faculty, please see Open Enrollment for Adjunct Faculty.

North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) will be conducting Online Open Enrollment for all benefit eligible employees starting Monday, September 15, 2025 through Friday, October 10, 2025. All changes made during Open Enrollment take effect January 1, 2026. 

If an employee does not make changes to their existing plan(s) during Open Enrollment, existing plan(s) will automatically continue for 2026. Only employees who need to make plan modifications will be required to complete the process online via MyGateway by Friday, October 10, 2025. The Human Resources - Benefits Office will not accept any late changes, NO EXCEPTIONS. 

During Open Enrollment, benefit- eligible employees may enroll, change, cancel, and/or pre-tax the following benefits:

• CalPERS Health
• Delta Dental
• VSP Vision Plans
• Voluntary Benefit Plans
• Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - requires annual re-enrollment
• Dependent Care Account (DCA) - requires annual re-enrollment

IMPORTANT NOTE:  CalPERS currently has functionality that allows employees to complete self-service health transactions and upload supporting documentation through their myCalPERS account.  Use of this function is at the discretion of the employer.  Please note that our District will NOT accept any health changes submitted through the CalPERS self-service tool. 

During Open Enrollment

During the Open Enrollment period, all benefit-eligible employees should take the opportunity to do the following:

1. Confirm their residential address is current on their MyGateway portal under My Information.
2. Review their current plan elections and confirm coverage for any enrolled dependents.
   1. Employees that do not need to make any benefit plan or dependent coverage changes do not need to start the online Open Enrollment process.
   2. Employees that intend to make any benefit plan or dependent coverage changes are required to complete the process online via MyGateway.
3. Review any voluntary insurance plans.
   1. New enrollments and/or any changes to voluntary insurance plans must be coordinated directly with the plan provider. The effective date for any new voluntary plan elections or changes will be effective January 1, 2026 once approval from the plan provider is received by the Human Resources - Benefits Office. 

New 2026 Plan Year

At the start of the new 2026 plan year, all benefit-eligible employees are encouraged to do the following:

1. Confirm their plan elections for the new 2026 plan year and ensure coverage for any enrolled dependents.
   1. For any new health enrollments or changes to elected health plans, employees should receive a new health plan ID card. Employees that do not receive their health plan ID card should contact their plan provider directly. 

Open Enrollment for all benefit eligible Adjunct Faculty starts Monday, September 15, 2025 and ends on Friday, October 10, 2025. All changes made during Open Enrollment take effect January 1, 2026. 

Adjunct Faculty Unit Members may have the opportunity to review, enroll, or make changes to their health benefits during the Open Enrollment period. 

If no changes are made during Open Enrollment, all existing plans will automatically continue effective January 1, 2026. 

Note: Adjunct Faculty are not eligible for dental, vision, or voluntary insurance benefits with the District. Adjunct Faculty are encouraged to  explore external options to meet their insurance needs. 

As an option, Adjunct Faculty may coordinate with a certified insurance agent through KeenanDirect for enrollment assistance and expert guidance for external dental, vision, and/or voluntary insurance plans. Additional information is available on the KeenanDirect flyer. 

Please refer to the link below for additional information on the available CalPERS health plans. 

District Medical Plans

Eligibility Requirements

As an Adjunct Faculty Unit Member, to be eligible to enroll in the District's group health insurance during Open Enrollment, they must meet the following requirements: 

• Unit Member is a current contributing CalSTRS member
• Unit Member has an approved and processed assignment (in Banner) for the Fall 2025 semester
• Unit Member and/or their dependent(s) have no other group coverage in place 

For Adjunct Faculty newly enrolling during the Open Enrollment period, please review the following information:

1. Health eligibility for coverage beginning January 1, 2026, will be determined by an Unit Member's Fall 2025 semester assignment.
2. At the start of the Spring 2026 semester, the Human Resources - Benefits Office will verify health eligibility for coverage to continue effective February 1, 2026. Eligibility will require an active Spring 2026 semester assignment.
   1. If an Adjunct Faculty Unit Member becomes ineligible for health insurance benefits with the District, the Unit Member will be eligible to enroll in Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) at their own expense according to the laws and regulations governing COBRA. 

District Contributions for Adjunct Faculty

District contributions are based on the employee's semester workload (FTE) with NOCCCD.

For any new enrollments during the Open Enrollment period, please note the following:

1. District contributions for eligible Adjunct Faculty for January 2026 are determined by their Fall 2025 semester workload (FTE).
2. At the start of the Spring 2026 semester, if an Adjunct Faculty Unit Member continues to meet the District's health eligibility requirements, the district contribution will be determined by their Spring 2026 semester workload (FTE) effective February 1, 2026.  

Please see below for the District contributions provided to eligible Adjunct Faculty based upon their semester workload (FTE):

• If the employee's semester workload with NOCCCD is 40% or greater (FTE), the Adjunct Faculty Unit Member will be eligible to receive the same District contributions equal to what is provided to full-time faculty at NOCCCD. This means that the District pays 100% of the employee-only health insurance premium for the elected health plan. The District also provides each eligible employee with enrolled dependents a negotiated dollar amount to offset the cost of dependent care health premiums.
• If the employee's semester workload with NOCCCD is less than 40% (FTE), the District contributes a flat monthly amount towards the employee's monthly health premiums. 

Adjunct Faculty Application Process

During the Open Enrollment period, Adjunct Faculty will be required to submit their application materials by no later than October 10, 2025 to process their requested changes.  The Human Resources - Benefits Office will not accept any late changes, NO EXCEPTIONS. If eligible, changes will be processed effective January 1, 2026. 

Please see below for Open Enrollment application process:

1. Complete the CalPERS HBD-12 form
   1. Download the CalPERS HBD-12 form
   2. See the HBD-12 Instructions for helpful guidance when completing the form.

2. If adding new dependents to your health plan, gather required dependent verification documentation for each dependent.

3. Submit your completed HBD-12 form and any dependent verification documentation through any one of the following methods:

Do not email your completed HBD-12 form. Emailed HBD-12 forms will not be accepted.