By Kathleen J. Sullivan

Open Enrollment, which begins today, is the annual opportunity for benefits-eligible employees and retirees to change health care plans and to add or drop eligible dependents from coverage. (Benefits can only be changed during the year if there is a qualifying life event the birth of a baby, an adoption, marriage or divorce or a change in employment status.)

Open Enrollment closes on Friday, Nov. 14.

A variety of tools and publications designed to help employees and their families make decisions can be found in the 2015 Open Enrollment website, including a Comparison Tool and Health Plan Evaluator and newsletters, as well as a Faculty Benefits Summary, Staff Benefits Summary and Retiree Benefits Summary.

In a recent interview with Stanford Report, Neal Evans, director of health and welfare programs in University Human Resources, answered questions about Stanford's health care offerings in 2015 and the rising cost of health care.

What stays the same in 2015?

Stanford will continue to offer Stanford Health Care Alliance (SHCA), the Kaiser Permanente HMO and the Blue Shield EPO, PPO and High-Deductible Health Plan.

Two of those plans SHCA and the Kaiser Permanente HMO are free for employees covering themselves. Employee contributions for all other coverage categories for SHCA and Kaiser will remain the same in 2015.

Copayments for primary care office visits and mental health care office visits ($20) will remain the same in 2015 for SHCA, Kaiser and the Blue Shield EPO and PPO plans. Copayments for emergency room visits will remain $100 for those four plans, and will be waived if the individual is admitted to the hospital.

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Making educated choices about health care during Open Enrollment at Stanford