Teachers’ Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) Benefit Plans
Benefit Recipients who enroll (see FY09 & FY10 rate chart) in the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program (TRIP) receive health, prescription and behavioral health benefits. Dependent Beneficiaries can be enrolled in the program at an additional cost and will have the same health plan and other benefits as the Benefit Recipient.
The health and prescription benefits offered to TRIP participants are administered by various plan administrators. Benefit Recipients interested in changing their coverage elections may do so upon experiencing an eligible qualifying change in status and should contact the Group Insurance Representative (GIR) at TRS for more information.
NEW Coverage for adult children age age 19 up to age 26 (up to age 30 for veteran adult children) is available for dependents meeting the criteria effective July 1, 2009.
Benefit Program Books
Health
The health insurance plans available to TRIP members differ in the benefit levels they provide, the doctors and hospitals you can access and the out-of-pocket cost to you. In general, managed care plans, such as Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and the Open Access Plan (OAP), deliver healthcare through a system of network providers and have a lower monthly premium than the Teachers' Choice Health Plan (TCHP).
There are 7 managed care health plans located throughout the State available to TRIP members. Benefit Recipients may view Map of the managed care plans’ coverage areas.
The TCHP is administered by CIGNA and allows plan participants to access any provider nationwide; however, enhanced benefits are available when services are received from a TCHP network provider.
Prescription
Plan participants enrolled in any TRIP health plan have prescription drug benefits included in the coverage. All prescription medications are compiled on a preferred drug list ("formulary list") maintained by each health plan's Prescription Benefit Manager (PBM). Formulary lists categorize drugs in three levels: generic, preferred brand and non-preferred brand. Each level has a different co-payment and/or coinsurance amount.
- Participants enrolled in any of the managed care plans pay a co-payment for their prescriptions.
- Participants enrolled in the Teachers' Choice Health Plan (TCHP) pay 20% of the retail cost of prescriptions, not to exceed a set maximum or be less than the set minimum co-payment amount (see minimum/maximum co-payment chart).
Coverage for specific drugs may vary depending upon the health plan. It is important to note that formulary lists are subject to change any time during the plan year. To compare formulary lists, cost-savings programs and to obtain a list of pharmacies that participate in the various health plan networks, plan participants should visit the website of each health plan they are considering. Plan participants who have additional prescription drug coverage, including Medicare, should contact their plan’s PBM for Coordination of Benefits (COB) information.
Medco the prescription drug plan administrator for Health Alliance Illinois, HealthLink OAP and the Teachers' Choice Health Plan (TCHP), maintains a list of in-network pharmacies [PDF, 107KB] that contract with Medco to accept the co-payment amount for prescriptions. A Medco claim form [PDF, 26KB] is available for members who request reimbursement due to using an out-of-network pharmacy.
Medco also offers a Mail Order benefit. To access a Mail Order Form for any of the plans administered by Medco, click on the link that corresponds to the health plan in which you are enrolled - Health Alliance Illinois [PDF, 61KB], HealthLink OAP [PDF, 61KB] and the Teachers' Choice Health Plan (TCHP) [PDF, 51KB].
Contact Information
Please visit the Teachers' Retirement System website for more information regarding the Teachers' Retirement Insurance Program.
FAQs
A list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding TRIP can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Please click here to view the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Notice of Privacy Practices.
 Documents are provided in PDF format, to view documents you will need Adobe's free Reader 7.0 or higher.
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