Dear Colleagues,

Open Enrollment for State of Maryland health benefits will end this Friday, November 7, 2025, at 5 p.m.

Take action now before it's too late! Please visit the Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management (HRSTM) Open Enrollment website for resources from the State, health vendors, and the slides and recording from the information session the HRSTM team conducted on October 15.

What's new for 2026:

• Effective January 1, 2026, all health benefit premiums will be deducted from payroll on a bi-weekly basis across 26 pay periods, an increase from the previous 24 deductions per year.
• Beginning July 1, 2026, contractual employees will begin receiving pre-tax benefit premiums, which will be automatically deducted from their paychecks.
• Healthcare FSA maximum increased to $3,300 and dependent care FSA increased to $7,500 for the 2026 calendar year!

During Open Enrollment, eligible employees can enroll, cancel, or make changes to their health benefits, with all updates becoming effective January 1, 2026. Employees will receive weekly email alerts from the State of Maryland regarding Open Enrollment.

Open Enrollment will continue to be online in the SPS Workday system. Instructions for logging into the SPS Workday system can be found here.

Employees who are adding new dependents to their health benefits during Open Enrollment should review the required dependent documentation. Dependent documentation is required to be attached to the employee's Open Enrollment event by Friday, November 7, 2025, at 5 p.m.

Employees who do not need to make changes to their benefits do not need to take any action.

Please visit the HRSTM Open Enrollment website for more information and email the HRSTM Benefits and Wellness team at hrbenefits@umbc.edu with any questions.

Benefits and Wellness Team
Human Resources and Strategic Talent Management