Ohio SERS’s 2027 enrollment has two medical change deadlines: why a 29% premium rise can still leave a $504 lower annual premium, while existing dental and vision commitments run through 2027

The two percentages describe change from each plan’s previous price. They do not compare the two plans’ final prices with each other. A larger percentage applied to a lower starting amount can leave a lower ending amount. SERS describes the increases as approximately 7% for Aetna Choice POS II and approximately 29% for AultCare PPO; those are plan-level descriptions, not a substitute for the premium on an individual retiree’s cover letter.

In the specified 30-to-34.999-year, post-cutoff example, the annual premium arithmetic is straightforward. Twelve monthly payments of $385 total $4,620 for Aetna. Twelve payments of $343 total $4,116 for AultCare. Subtracting gives $504. The comparison excludes spouse and child premiums, dental and vision, and every charge for receiving care. It also assumes no midyear change in enrollment or premium.

There is no need to estimate the 2026 premium by dividing the 2027 amount by 1.07 or 1.29. Because the published increases are approximate, that reverse calculation could produce a false sense of precision. The 2027 dollar tables are the direct evidence for next year’s listed premium. The graphic below deliberately puts percentages and dollars on different scales, so a tall percentage bar cannot masquerade as a tall bill.

The service-credit row and benefit-date column both matter. Move the same example into the guide’s earlier benefit-date column, August 1, 1989 through July 1, 2008, and the listed monthly amounts become $341 and $304. That gap is $37 a month, or $444 over twelve months. For 25 to 29.999 years with benefits effective on or after August 1, 2008, the amounts are $560 and $497, a $756 annual premium difference. None of these rows is a universal retiree rate.

The guide says the accompanying cover letter identifies current plans and 2027 premiums; the reverse lists other plan options. That makes the letter more useful than choosing the closest-looking row from a public table. Someone who is unsure of their recorded service credit or benefit effective date should ask SERS rather than round a number or substitute their last day at work.

The guide specifically directs retirees on or after August 1, 2008 with at least 35 years of service credit to call SERS for their premium. The interactive examples therefore stop at that boundary. They do not extend the 30-to-34.999-year row, calculate a guessed discount or treat a missing rate as zero.

Dependent costs are another reason to keep the comparison narrow. The published spouse premiums use their own service-credit bands, and child coverage has a separate amount. A retiree-only premium cannot stand in for a household premium. Compare the same people, the same year and the same type of coverage on both sides before drawing a budget conclusion.

Aetna Choice POS II is available throughout the United States. To change into AultCare PPO, the guide requires residence in one of 18 named Ohio counties: Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Knox, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas or Wayne. A lower listed premium is not an available alternative for every SERS retiree.

Availability also differs from whether a particular provider participates. A plan serving a county does not establish that a reader’s doctor, hospital or other facility belongs to its network. Both summaries warn that going outside the network increases out-of-pocket costs. Check the exact plan with the insurer and the provider before choosing, including the facilities where care would take place.

The benefit tables show why premium-only shopping is incomplete even within the network. Aetna’s listed primary-care visit copay is $10, compared with $20 for AultCare; specialist visits are $25 and $40 respectively. These examples do not produce a complete annual bill, but they establish that the plans are not interchangeable products sold at different premiums. The governing plan documents prevail over the guide’s highlights.

The out-of-network columns make the distinction sharper. Aetna’s benefit highlights list no out-of-pocket maximum for out-of-network care; AultCare lists $14,700 per person and $29,400 per family. Those figures are not estimates of a typical bill. They are another reason to read the applicable column and the governing terms. An in-network maximum cannot be used as a blanket ceiling on all a household’s insurance spending, and the premium comparison does not establish which network will meet a particular person’s needs.

SERS says benefits and pharmacy copays remain unchanged for these plans in 2027. That statement should not be stretched into a guarantee about a particular prescription. The same guide describes advance notices when a drug becomes non-preferred and gives separate dispensing rules. Review any insurer or pharmacy notice and confirm the coverage and refill arrangements directly. There is no need to enter a diagnosis, medicine list or expected treatment into this article to find the right official contact.

For a change to Aetna Choice POS II or, where available, AultCare PPO, the guide tells the retiree to complete and return the Health Care Change Form to SERS by November 15, 2026. The current enrollment page likewise describes an October 1–November 15 window. The guide says SERS will send confirmation of new coverage effective January 1, 2027, with plan ID cards mailed at the end of December.

For a move to the SERS Marketplace Wraparound HRA, the sequence is different. First call UMR, the administrator, at 888-236-2377. Enroll in a Marketplace plan with UMR’s guidance, have UMR confirm that enrollment, and return the SERS Health Care Change Form by December 15, 2026. The Marketplace insurer must also receive the required premium by its due date.

The December date belongs to that SERS form and that route. It is not a general extension for someone switching between the two group plans. Nor does sending a form to SERS replace enrolling in a Marketplace policy. Because insurer payment and coverage-start requirements must fit together, confirm the January start with UMR instead of treating the last form date as the day to begin researching options.

There is an additional task for someone moving in the opposite direction, from a Marketplace policy to Aetna or AultCare. The guide instructs Marketplace enrollees to call the number on their plan ID card in mid-December to cancel that policy effective December 31, 2026. Coordinate the termination with confirmed replacement coverage; neither the example selector nor a submitted SERS form proves that the old insurer has processed a cancellation.

The dates below are deadlines and coverage boundaries taken from SERS, not a countdown calculated from a visitor’s device. The source does not establish a last-hour submission cutoff or a universal postmark rule. If timing is close, ask SERS how to return the form and verify receipt. Keeping a copy and the confirmation is more useful than assuming that mailing, delivery and processing all happen at once.

The Marketplace Wraparound HRA limit rises from $2,200 to $2,250 per participating family per calendar year for 2027. The $50 difference increases the ceiling on reimbursement of eligible expenses. It is not an automatic $50 payment, a reduction in every insurance premium, or a promise that each family will receive the full $2,250.

The guide describes reimbursement for eligible out-of-pocket costs of covered Marketplace services, such as deductibles, copays and coinsurance. There is no additional premium for the HRA itself, but the Marketplace insurance policy still has its own premium. That premium is paid directly to the insurer; SERS cannot take it from the pension payment. Switching payment arrangements therefore belongs on the checklist alongside switching coverage.

The official program description also limits who can use this route. It excludes people who waive SERS coverage, are eligible for Medicare, are enrolled in Medicaid, or will have a family member in a SERS Medicare Advantage plan. UMR should check the actual household situation. This article uses the explicitly dated 2027 guide for the new reimbursement ceiling because the general page still displays the older $2,200 amount.

Existing HRA participants receive plan and premium updates from their Marketplace insurer. They can contact UMR for help comparing another Marketplace plan or reporting a household change. No Marketplace subsidy amount is estimated here: the administrator’s eligibility review and the insurer’s actual terms are necessary before that figure can enter a comparison.

The annual medical enrollment packet does not reopen every benefit. SERS’s current notice says the existing dental and vision enrollment period continues through December 31, 2027, with the next ordinary opportunity to enroll or cancel in fall 2027. The 2027 guide says existing Delta Dental and VSP Vision enrollees must keep paying monthly premiums through that end date even if they obtain other coverage.

That makes the dental and vision decision distinct from whether medical coverage renews or changes in January. A retiree who finds other dental insurance should not assume that this year’s medical open enrollment allows them to stop the SERS dental deduction. The commitment has its own end point. The spatial model keeps that longer bar in place even when the medical route changes from November to December.

The dental plan also distinguishes between its PPO and Premier dentist networks. The official highlights show different payment percentages, and a nonparticipating dentist can charge more than the amount the plan recognizes. A reader reviewing what they are already paying for should therefore check the dentist’s exact network participation, not merely whether the office accepts a Delta Dental card. The enrollment commitment and the amount due for a dental service answer different questions. Keeping the policy through the end of the period does not make every treatment fully covered.

There is an important qualification for someone seeking initial enrollment. The separate dental and vision rules allow enrollment at retirement or the start of disability benefits, and within 31 days of involuntary cancellation of another dental or vision plan, as well as during the biennial window. They require at least ten years of qualified service credit and enrollment of the benefit recipient before covering dependents. A qualifying-event question should go to SERS promptly rather than wait until fall 2027.

The enrollment instructions require a cancellation letter for the involuntary-loss route identifying who is losing coverage, what type, when it ends and why. This is an exception for entering coverage under specified circumstances, not permission for existing enrollees to leave whenever another policy becomes available. SERS also says the period ends December 31, 2027 regardless of an enrollee’s effective coverage date; a later start does not create a new personal two-year cycle.

The non-Medicare guide says current SERS coverage renews automatically for 2027 and no call is necessary simply to remain enrolled. That removes an election task for someone staying put. It does not freeze the premium at its 2026 amount or make the individualized letter irrelevant. Review the new deduction and any plan notices even when no form needs returning.

Retirees in the SERS Aetna Medicare Plan PPO belong to a separate pricing discussion. SERS’s current enrollment notice says that plan’s premiums, benefits and prescription copay amounts remain unchanged for 2027. The 7% and 29% figures, and the $504 example, concern the named non-Medicare plans. They should not be applied to the Aetna Medicare plan just because the insurer’s name is shared.

Someone approaching Medicare eligibility should use the SERS transition instructions rather than the non-Medicare comparison as a long-term budget. The guide describes an approaching-65 packet and requires eligible enrollees to enroll in and maintain Medicare Part B. Ask SERS about the timing and proof required for the transition. For the broader shopping issues, Clayso’s Medicare plan-comparison guide is separate reading; it does not replace SERS’s group-plan rules.

Returning to work can require a separate eligibility check too. SERS says a retiree’s or spouse’s access to employer coverage can affect SERS medical eligibility during reemployment; its rule also considers coverage offered to comparable employees. The published reemployment rule does not apply to individuals enrolled in Medicare Part B. Tell SERS about a new job and ask how the rule applies instead of assuming automatic renewal resolves it. The official reemployment section also explains restoring eligibility when employment ends and the 31-day re-enrollment requirement after losing employer coverage.

Finally, changing a SERS plan is different from waiving SERS medical coverage. The official cancellation page says waiving ends dependent coverage and limits later re-enrollment to specified qualifying events. Do not treat cancellation as a reversible way to pause deductions while deciding. Discuss the consequences and replacement coverage with SERS before taking that step.

This guide’s annual-switch examples are aimed at existing SERS participants reviewing their available choices. They are not a general invitation for anyone receiving a pension to join medical coverage during October. SERS publishes separate initial-enrollment and re-enrollment events, including retirement, Medicare eligibility and involuntary loss of other coverage. A reader who previously waived coverage, is newly retiring or is losing another policy should describe that situation to SERS and ask which event and documentation apply. A calendar date alone cannot establish a right to enroll.

The practical order is to identify the plan and premium on the cover letter, check which alternatives are actually offered, then match the intended change to its official route. That avoids spending time comparing a plan outside its service area or working toward a December date that does not apply to the intended switch.

For SERS enrollment, service-credit, form or dental-and-vision questions, call 800-878-5853. For the Marketplace route, call UMR at 888-236-2377. For detailed group-plan questions, the guide lists Aetna Choice POS II at 800-826-6259 and AultCare at 800-344-8858. Use the member-service number on the current plan card when asking about existing coverage or a Marketplace cancellation.

The optional note below follows the ordinary example chosen above. It organizes a call or paperwork check; it does not enroll anyone, recommend a plan, determine eligibility or establish that an insurer received payment. If the example does not fit, reset it to “not sure” and begin with SERS. Keep actual account, medical and financial details out of this page and provide them only through the appropriate official service.