2027 Benefits At a Glance
Open Enrollment: October 13 - 27, 2026
Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to review your benefit elections and make changes for the upcoming plan year which begins January 1. We highly recommend you review your benefit elections during Open Enrollment even if you do not want to make any changes. There are several benefits that must be elected each calendar year and will not roll over – these are called out below under ‘Benefits that Require Annual Enrollment’. Your current enrollments of medical, dental, vision, and voluntary benefits (life insurance, short-term disability, accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity) will continue into 2027 if you do not complete Open Enrollment.
In 2026, Salem Health implemented several updates to keep our benefits program competitive with similar employers. Following our annual market review, we found that our benefit plans remain competitively positioned, resulting in fewer changes for 2027. While most benefits will remain the same, employees can look forward to a new healthcare resource, TextCare, along with a few important plan updates outlined below.
TextCare - Virtual Care Resource
New for 2027: Employees enrolled in a Salem Health Moda medical plan, and their household members, will automatically be enrolled and have access to TextCare, a convenient service that connects you with licensed healthcare providers by text or video 24/7, at no cost, no appointment needed.
What can TextCare help with?
- Primary care needs
- Urgent care concerns
- Chronic condition management
- Routine medication needs
- Health and medical questions
- Navigation to high-quality specialists and providers
Simply send a text to begin care.
How do I enroll?
Employees enrolled in the Salem Health Moda medical plans will automatically be enrolled into TextCare. No action is needed from you.
What does it cost?
TextCare, and the services TextCare performs, will be free to enrolled employees and members of their household. That means no copay, no deductible for using the service whether you text them one time or a hundred times. Prescriptions, laboratory services, and imaging will continue to be processed through insurance.
How do I access TextCare?
By text or through an app, anytime day or night. Care teams typically respond quickly. Contact and access information will be provided closer to January 1, 2027.
Medical Plans Premium Changes
Medical plan premiums will increase in 2027 due to rising healthcare costs. To help manage these increases, Salem Health will continue to share the additional cost of healthcare equally with employees. For employees enrolled in the Prime Plan, the employer contribution to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) will also increase slightly.
| Medical Plan | 2026 Employee Only | 2027 Employee Only | 2026 Employee + Family | 2027 Employee + Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Prime Plan (High Deductible) |
$20.00 | $22.50 | $125.00 | $140.00 |
| Employer Health Savings Account (HSA) Contribution* | $850 | $875 | $1700 | $1750 |
Choice Plan |
$47.50 | $53.00 | $233.50 | $261.50 |
Remaining Benefit Plans Premiums
Dental, vision, and voluntary benefits (short-term disability, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, life insurance) premiums will remain unchanged for 2027.
Important Information regarding Regence or Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Coverage:
If your spouse or qualified dependent(s) are enrolled in the Salem Health medical plan and are also covered by Regence or another Blue Cross Blue Shield plan and wants to receive care from Salem Health providers, they need to waive their other coverage (and stay on the Salem Health Moda plan) so that Salem Health can see them.
This is especially important as Providence will not offer health plans in 2027 and many employers are having to choose new carriers. Some may end up with Regence.
Benefits That Require Annual Enrollment
The following benefits do not automatically carry forward from one calendar year to the next and require a new election during Open Enrollment:
Health Savings Account (HSA)
Employees enrolled in the eligible Prime High-Deductible Plan (HDP) may receive a Salem Health HSA contribution of up to:
- $875 for employee only coverage
- $1,750 for coverage with one or more dependents
Employees must intentionally elect HSA participation to be eligible for the employer contribution. COBRA participants are not eligible for the employer HSA contribution.
Salem Health’s contribution counts toward the annual IRS HSA contribution limit. Your own payroll contributions and other HSA contributions made for the same tax year also count toward that limit.
2027 HSA Contribution limits
- $4,500 for self-only HDHP coverage
- $9,000 for family HDHP coverage
- An additional $1,000 catch-up contribution for an eligible individual age 55 or older
When will Salem Health's employer HSA contribution be deposited?
Employees who elect the HSA during Open Enrollment can expect the Salem Health employer contribution to be available in their Optum HSA account on or before January 12, 2027.
New HSA investment option
Eligible HSA account holders will have access to an additional self-directed brokerage option through the Schwab Health Savings Brokerage Account.
Employees who use this brokerage option may incur fees. Employees should receive information about applicable fees and investment risks. The brokerage option is voluntary. You are not required to invest your HSA balance.
Before investing, review:
- Any required minimum cash balance
- Investment choices
- Participation fees
- Trading or account charges
- The risks associated with investing
Investments can lose value and are not the same as maintaining funds in the standard cash portion of an HSA.
Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA)
Participation must be elected each year if you want to participate.
A Health Care FSA reimburses eligible health care expenses under the applicable plan rules. Your Health Care FSA election generally applies for the plan year unless an eligible event permits a change.
You cannot make or receive HSA contributions while covered by Salem Health’s Health Care FSA. This restriction applies even if you are enrolled in the Prime High-Deductible Plan. If you intend to make or receive HSA contributions, do not elect the Health Care FSA.
If you waive the HSA by choice, or you are not eligible for the HSA, per the requirements listed on the HSA benefits page, you are eligible to elect the Health Care FSA through Salem Health.
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA)
Participation must be elected each year if you want to participate.
A Dependent Care FSA is separate from a Health Care FSA and is used for eligible dependent-care expenses under the plan rules. Employees with regular daycare charges may use a recurring-expense process. After completing the applicable form, reimbursements may be issued as payroll contributions become available in the account.
Moving from Health Care FSA to an HSA
If you currently participate in the Health Care FSA and plan to enroll in the Prime High-Deductible Plan with an HSA for 2027, pay close attention to your remaining FSA balance.
If you want to begin making or receiving HSA contributions on January 1, 2027:
- Use your available Health Care FSA balance by December 31, 2026.
- Make sure eligible expenses are incurred by December 31, even if the plan allows additional time after year-end to submit claims.
- Check your FSA balance and outstanding claims before the end of the year.
- Remember that Salem Health’s HSA contribution also cannot be deposited while you are ineligible to contribute to an HSA.
Need help choosing a plan or completing enrollment? Have questions?
Benefits vendors will be available during Open Enrollment to answer questions and provide education on employee benefits. Benefits staff will be available to assist with completing the open enrollment event.
| Date | Salem Hospital Building B | Salem Hospital Campus | West Valley Hospital |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer Room & Times for Completion of Enrollment | Vendor's Onsite Schedule & Benefits Staff Onsite for Enrollment Assistance | Campus Vendor's Onsite Schedule & Benefits Staff Onsite for Enrollment Assistance | |
| Tuesday October 13 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 8:00am - 1:00pm | Moda, TextCare | |
| Wednesday October 14 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 12:00pm - 6:00pm | Moda, Fidelity, Modern Health, Chubb | |
| Thursday October 15 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 8:00am - 1:00pm | Moda, Chubb, TextCare, Standard, Modern Health | |
| Friday October 16 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 8:00am - 1:00pm | Moda, Standard, TextCare, Chubb, Fidelity | |
| Saturday October 17 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Sunday October 18 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Monday October 19 | BB1 & BB2 | 7:30am - 7pm | 8:00am - 1:00pm | Moda, TextCare, Standard | |
| Tuesday October 20 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 12:00pm - 6:00pm | Moda, Optum, TextCare, Fidelity, Modern Health | |
| Wednesday October 21 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 12:00pm - 5:00pm | Moda, Optum, Standard, TextCare, Modern Health | |
| Thursday October 22 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | 8:00am - 1:00pm | Optum | |
| Friday October 23 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Saturday October 24 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Sunday October 25 | BB1 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Monday October 26 | BB1 & BB2 | 7:30am - 7pm | ||
| Tuesday October 27 | BB1 & BB2 | 7:30am - 7pm | 12:00pm - 6:00pm | Moda, Standard |
Inquiries/Questions can be submitted in AskHR, include “Open Enrollment 2027” in the subject line for urgent assistance.
For vendor phone numbers, emails, and other contact details, please visit our Contacts & Resources page.
IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICES
Click here to view the 2027 Plan Year Important Legal Notices affecting your Health Plan Coverage.
Notice of Creditable Coverage for both Prime and Choice medical plans
Medicare Part D creditable coverage is prescription drug coverage that is expected to pay, on average, at least as much as Medicare’s standard Part D prescription drug benefit. Having creditable coverage generally allows someone to delay enrolling in Medicare Part D without owing a late-enrollment penalty when they later enroll. Click here for more details.