2026 Annual Benefits Open Enrollment
OCTOBER 27 - NOVEMBER 10, 2025
Dartmouth is proud to offer a comprehensive, flexible benefits program that provides a range of options to support you and your family.
OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2026 HAS ENDED
New Hires will have 2 weeks to complete their 2026 enrollment once their 2025 enrollment
has been completed in FlexOnline. For information on what is changing in 2026, please
see below.
What is Open Enrollment?
Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to:
• learn about benefit changes coming in 2026
• review your current elections
• add or remove dependents from a plan
• re-enroll in a tax advantage plan
• re-establish your Child Care Subsidy
• re-enroll in the gym membership
• change your wellness option
• update your life insurance beneficiaries
Changes take effect on January 1, 2026.
Check your 2026 Elections
To see what benefits you are enrolled in and to see your 2026 costs per pay period,
please:
1. Log in to FlexOnline (use single sign-on ID and password).
2. Go to MY BENEFITS in the main menu at the top
3. Go down to CURRENT BENEFITS
4. Change the date field to 1/1/26 and hit ENTER
5. You may then view or print your 2026 benefits confirmation page.
What if I didn't take Action?
The following benefits required action during open enrollment:
• Medical/Pharmacy If covering a spouse, you will be subject to a $100 spousal surcharge if you did not log in and complete the medical surcharge attestation (See Surcharge FAQ)
• Dependent Care FSA (employee contribution)- You will not have this benefit.
• DCFSA with Child Care Subsidy (ages 0-5) - You will not have this benefit.
• General Purpose FSA - You will not have this benefit.
• Limited Purposes FSA - You will not have this benefit.
• Health Savings Account - Reach out to the benefits office and we can assist you with making an election.
• Wellness benefit - You will default to the Life Style Spending Account.
• All Other Benefits - will carry forward into calendar year 2026 with 2026 rates.
2026 ID Cards
If you are new to a benefit and have not received your ID card by January 1, 2026, most of our insurance vendors now offer digital ID cards through their downloadable phone apps.
• All those enrolled in a Cigna medical plan in 2026 can expect to see new ID cards arriving at your legal mailing address
via USPS within the first few weeks of January.
• Express Scripts, Delta Dental and Cigna Vision (EyeMed) will be sending new ID cards out to those who are new to the plan(s) and those cards
will be arriving near the end of December.
• HSA and FSA debit cards will only be sent out if you are new to the plan or if your current card
is expiring.
• VSP Vision, Cigna Supplemental and Lincoln Financial do not send ID cards.
Please DO NOT cancel appointments. If you have trouble obtaining your digital ID card in time for an appointment, please reach out to Human.Resources.Benefits@Dartmouth.edu by email or by phone at 603-646-3589.
Open Enrollment Newsletter
The Open Enrollment Newsletter provides an overview of upcoming plan changes for 2026,
a list of resources to help you evaluate your options and information on where and
how to enroll:
The Open Enrollment Newsletter
Summary of Materials Modification
JVISA Summary of Materials Modification
2026 Benefits Guide
The 2026 Benefits Guide provides an overview of the comprehensive benefits program
Dartmouth offers to help care for your physical, emotional and financial well-being:
Educational Webinars
Please join us for a live educational webinar, where you will learn about the upcoming
benefit changes for CY 2026. You'll even have an opportunity to ask questions of
the benefits team:
One-on-One
FlexOnline Enrollment Assistance
The Benefits office offers one-on-one enrollment assistance throughout Open Enrollment
for those who would like a little extra help navigating the FlexOnline enrollment
system. You can schedule a 30-minute session to meet with a member of the benefits
team over the phone, by zoom or in person at 7 Lebanon Street. Availability is limited.
One-on-One
Consultations
The Benefits office offers one-on-one benefits consultations throughout Open Enrollment for those who have more complex benefits related issues. You can schedule a 30- minute session to meet with a specialized member of the benefits team over the phone, by zoom or in person at 7 Lebanon Street. Availability is limited.
Benefit Cost Estimator
The benefit plan cost estimator tool is available for employees to use 24/7/365, to determine benefit costs, prior to changing assignments, having qualified life events or enrolling through FlexOnline. Try out different family tiering scenarios. Rates are based on your anticipated annual salary, your full time equivalency and who you are covering on your plan(s).
Enrolling in FlexOnline
To simplify the enrollment process, we have created instructions for maneuvering the FlexOnline system and an enrollment worksheet that you can print prior to starting the enrollment process. Fill out the worksheet as you review the plans and make your enrollment decisions, and then use the instructions and worksheet to log in and complete the process.
2026 Benefit Information
Want to learn more about a specific benefit? We have a webpage for that. Learn more
about each individual benefit that is offered to you as a benefit eligible employee;
what's covered, how the plans work, determine if your provider's are in-network, learn
how to file claims and more.
The Emma Support Tool
Choosing a medical plan can be stressful and complicated. Emma is a decision support
tool that is available for you to use while completing your enrollment in FlexOnline.
By answering a few questions about yours and your family's health care needs, Emma
will quickly provide an estimate on what she thinks you will pay in medical rates,
deductibles, copays and coinsurance in the calendar year and will then provide a recommendation
on which medical plan she believes will be the most cost effective option for you.
Simply click on the "Continue with Audio" button when prompted in FlexOnline to use the Emma support tool or click on "Continue without audio" if you wish to bypass the Emma tool.
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