Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Medical/Dental/Vision Insurances

For medical, dental and vision rates, please click below:

2025 Faculty/Administrative Salaried Rates

2025 Administrative Hourly Rates

2024 Faculty/Administrative Salaried Rates

2024 Administrative Hourly Rates

Medical Plan

The Colleges current medical plan is with Excellus BluePPO Insurance. View Excellus BluePPO’s 2025 Summary of Coverage and 2024 Summary of Coverage.

Employees can create an account through Excellus BlueCross BlueShield to view/order member cards, find doctors, view plan details, estimate medical costs, track your deductible, learn about telehealth and telemedicine, and more. A Member Services phone number is also available on your Excellus ID card.

Telemedicine

Excellus BCBS’ partner, MDLIVE, provides HWS employees with telemedicine benefits. To learn more and get started, click here.

Telemedicine is a convenient way to treat non-urgent medical conditions 24 hours/day, allowing employees to connect to a doctor in real time using an internet-enabled device. A valuable option if you are away on travel, or unable to visit the doctor's office and with a lower co-pay compared to an in-person visit. Normally, employees pay $0 for telemedicine service.

Medical Care while Travelling

When traveling outside of the U.S., you have access to medical assistance services, doctors and hospitals around the world through the Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Core coverage. For more information, please view Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Core.

Turning Age 65

When an employee or spouse of an employee turns age 65 and is currently employed and enrolled in the Colleges medical insurance plan, the HWS medical insurance will remain their primary insurance. Make an appointment with your local Social Security office four to six weeks prior to turning age 65 to apply for Medicare Part A (free) and defer Medicare Part B. Once an employee retires from the Colleges, they will need to enroll in Medicare Part B at that time. Please note: for faster and easier service when registering for Medicare Part A and/or Part B you may want to enroll online at www.socialsecurity.gov.

Employees turning 65 or nearing retirement are encouraged to contact Corinne Hillmon (chillmon@consiliariumgroup.com or 585-421-8000) at Consiliarium Group, HWS’ Employee Benefits Advocate, for further information regarding benefits and planning. 

Additional Information – Medical Plan

Department of Labor Updates Model Employer Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Notice

Transparency in Coverage Information: The following information is for data aggregators who can download and interpret machine-readable files. The machine-readable files referenced on this page contain pricing information as part of the Transparency in Coverage rules with a link.

Dental Plan

In 2025, Hobart and William Smith transitioned our dental insurance to Excellus BCBS, a contributory PPO plan. There are two coverage levels available: the High Plan and Low Plan.

• High Plan Summary of Benefits – covers basic preventive dental care plus major dental care, including orthodontia
• Low Plan Summary of Benefits - covers basic preventive dental care

To find providers, got to www.excellusbcbs.com/findadentist, navigate to “Find a Doctor” and then “Find a Dentist.”

• If you are in the Local regional network, select Dental Blue Option
• If you are out of state or the region select National GRID and Dentemax

In 2024, dental benefits were offered through Guardian (Summary of Benefits). Claims for services through Guardian should be submitted using the Guardian Dental Claim Form.

Vision Plan

In 2025, Hobart and William Smith transitioned our vision insurance to EyeMed’s contributory plan. To view the Vision Benefit Summary, click here. Member ID cards will be mailed to enrolled plan members.

To find providers, go to www.eyemed.com, click “Find an eye doctor” and then select “Insight Network.”

In 2024, vision benefits were offered through Guardian (Summary of Benefits). Claims for services through Guardian should be submitted using the Guardian Vision Claim Form.

MEDICAL Opt-OUT STipend

HWS provides a Medical Opt-Out stipend for those who waive medical coverage. Currently, the medical opt-out stipend is $1,000 and will be paid out in the second payroll of January. The stipend will be subject to regular tax withholdings.

Remember, if you voluntarily waive medical coverage, you also waive your rights to elect medical coverage under COBRA if you terminate your employment.

Enrollment/Termination

Important Information: An open enrollment period is held once each year, usually in the fall, during which employees may enroll or change benefits coverage with no restrictions. Outside of the open enrollment period, employees can change/enroll in benefits only if they are an eligible as a new hire or have had a qualifying life event.

Upon termination of employment, options for continuing benefits coverage will be offered in accordance with federal regulations.