Memo: Update on changes to Employee Health Plans in 2026

  • Publication date August 26, 2025

Date:    August 26, 2025

To:    All Benefits-Eligible Employees

Fr: Steven D. Shapiro, MD, Senior Vice President for Health Affairs

Sarah Van Orman, MD, MMM, FACHA, Vice President for Campus Health and

Chief Campus Health Officer

Re:    Update on changes to Employee Health Plans in 2026

As we start looking toward the annual open enrollment period, we want to make sure we’re communicating with you along the way, as we know you are making important decisions for you and your families. Today, we are writing to share some important updates before we go into the 2026 open enrollment season.

USC Health leaders and the Health Plans teams are very conscious that we must be exceptionally good stewards of your health plan dollars. Our goal is to provide the best prevention tools and health care services that move our communities continuously toward improved health outcomes.

As providers and organizations continually strive to maintain high quality of care and excellence in a changing health and technology landscape, our focus is in re-investing in plans where we have the greatest economies of scale that positively shape the best health outcomes for our USC plan members.

Here are some of the changes you will see for 2026:

  • Anthem MyChoice HMO and Anthem HMO plans will no longer be offered as USC Health Plans options.
  • The Kaiser Permanente HMO plan will only be available for renewal for existing plan members.
  • The USC Trojan Care EPO and PPO plans will have expanded choice and redesigned benefits, including two tiers of expanded provider networks in the EPO plan (expanded from a single tier.)

We thought through these changes carefully, with a focus on continuing to provide quality health plan options for our employees. Specific details about health plans will be forthcoming in September, announced to your USC email and posted online at https://campushealth.usc.edu/healthplans.

Please refer to the FAQ page (https://campushealth.usc.edu/healthplans/faq2026/) for answers to common questions.

We are also hosting three walkthrough events (with Q & A) as follows:

During open enrollment, which will take place Oct. 27 through Nov. 10, we encourage you to examine the benefits offered for 2026, learn about the prevention tools and health care resources available to you and your families, and reach out to the specific care navigation service line through Personify that will launch on October 1, 2025 for your questions directly related to continuing to access high-quality care.