Benefits Glossary
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Actively Managed Fund
Actively managed funds rely on extensive research and fund manager experience to make decisions about the specific investments of the fund. The fund manager builds the fund with investments that they believe will outperform other similar investments.
Asset Allocation
The concept of spreading out your investments (in the 401(k) Plan and Health Savings Account, for example) across asset classes—stocks, bonds and short-term investments. The proportion of your assets you allocate to each asset class should depend on your tolerance for risk and change over time.
Asset Class
An asset class is a grouping of investments—like a stocks, bonds and short-term investments—that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. Asset classes vary in the level of risk and potential reward associated (meaning an increase in value), with stocks being a higher potential risk and reward and bonds and short-term investments being a lower potential risk and reward.
Annual Maximum
The limit on benefits that will be paid toward health care services received for the plan year.
Beneficiary
The person(s) designated to receive all or a portion of your benefits, like your 401(k) Plan account balance or insurance benefits, in the event of your death.
Bond
A bond represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or governmental), similar to an IOU, that is paid back after a fixed amount of time with interest.
Coinsurance
How you and the plan share the cost of health care expenses—the plan pays a percentage, then you pay the remaining percentage out of pocket.
Contributions
Money from your paycheck that goes toward paying for coverage in Disney benefit programs, such as medical, dental and vision, or that you defer—or save—toward an account, such as contributions made to the 401(k) Plan or the Health Savings Account (HSA).
Copay
The fixed amount that you pay a health care provider out of pocket at the time of service—the portion of the full provider’s fee that you are responsible to cover.
Deductible
The amount you must pay for covered services (except eligible in-network preventive care and certain other exceptions depending on the medical option you enroll in) before the plan begins to share the cost with you.
Dependent
An eligible spouse, partner, child or other individual that you can cover under your Disney health care and insurance options.
Diagnostic Test
A type of test or procedure, such as an x-ray, a mammogram or a colonoscopy, to help diagnose a disease, condition or health issue.
Diversification
The concept of investing in multiple different funds (in the 401(k) Plan and Health Savings Account, for example) to spread out your investment risk and not rely on the performance a single or even a few funds.
Eligibility
The right to participate in a plan or obtain a benefit based on meeting certain conditions or criteria.
Emergency Room Care / Emergency Services
Services to check for an emergency medical condition and treat you to keep an emergency medical condition from getting worse. These services may be provided in a licensed hospital’s emergency room or other place that provides care for emergency medical conditions.
Excluded Services
Health care services that a benefit plan does not cover.
Formulary
A list containing the names of certain prescription drugs a medical plan will cover when dispensed to its members who have drug coverage.
Habilitation Services
Health care services that help a person keep, learn or improve skills and functioning for daily living. These services may include physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and other services for people with disabilities in a variety of inpatient and/or outpatient settings.
Health Care Account
An account in which you and/or the Company may contribute tax-advantaged dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses, such as the Health Savings Account, Health Reimbursement Account or Health Care Flexible Spending Account.
Health Care Flexible Spending Account
An account that helps you pay for qualified health care expenses with your tax-free contributions. You cannot enroll in the Health Care Flexible Spending Account if you are enrolled in Consumer Choice.
Health Insurance
A contract that requires a health insurer to pay some or all of your health care costs in exchange for a premium. A health insurance contract may also be called a “policy” or “plan.”
Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
An account Disney contributes to when you earn wellness rewards to help you pay for qualified medical expenses when you enroll in any medical option except Consumer Choice.
Health Savings Account (HSA)
A savings account used with the Consumer Choice medical option that you and Disney contribute to help you pay for qualified medical expenses with tax-free contributions—plus any wellness rewards you earn—that rolls over each year and can be invested.
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
A type of health insurance arrangement that limits coverage to care from in-network providers who work for or contract with the HMO. You must choose a Primary Care Physician who is responsible for coordinating your health care referring you to in-network specialists as needed. Care received outside of the network is not covered, except in emergency situations.
Home Health Care
Health care services and supplies provided in your home under your doctor’s orders. Services may be provided by nurses, therapists, social workers or other licensed health care providers.
Hospice Services
A special kind of care that focuses on the quality of life for individuals who are experiencing an advanced, life-threatening illness so they may live as fully and comfortably as possible—and that provides support for their caregivers and family.
Hospital Outpatient Care
Care in a hospital that usually doesn’t require an overnight stay.
Hospitalization
Care in a hospital that requires admission as an inpatient and usually requires an overnight stay. Some plans may consider an overnight stay for observation as outpatient care instead of inpatient care.
In-Network
Medical, dental and vision providers who have agreed to discounted fees with insurance carriers to participate within their provider networks.
Index
A measurement, or benchmark, to evaluate an investment fund’s performance against.
Inpatient
A person who occupies a hospital bed, crib or bassinet while under observation, care, diagnosis or treatment for at least 24 hours.
Mail-order Prescriptions
A method of dispensing medication directly to the patient through the mail by means of a mail-order drug distribution company at reduced costs, especially for long-term drug therapy.
Medically Necessary
Health care services or supplies needed to prevent, diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition, disease, or its symptoms, including habilitation, and that meet accepted standards of medicine.
Member
A person enrolled for coverage who is eligible to receive benefits from an insurance policy–including the employee and their eligible dependents.
Non-Formulary
A drug or medication that is not on the list containing the names of certain prescription drugs a medical plan will cover when dispensed to its members who have drug coverage.
Out-of-Network
Medical, dental and vision providers who have not contracted with the plans' insurance carriers and agreed to discounted fees. A member may have no coverage out-of-network, or pay higher copays, coinsurance and/or deductibles.
Out-of-Pocket Maximum
A set dollar limit to protect you financially from significant medical claims—the most you may have to pay out of pocket for eligible expenses in a plan year (not including your payroll contributions for coverage) before the plan begins to pay 100%.
Outpatient
A person who visits a clinic, emergency room or health facility and receives health care without being admitted as an overnight patient.
Passive (or Index) Fund
Passive/index funds try to mirror the performance and risk characteristics of a particular market index–or benchmark—by investing in a wide range of investments within that index and avoiding market fluctuations specific to any one investment.
Physician Services
Health care services provided or coordinated by a licensed medical physician, including an M.D. (Medical Doctor) or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine).
Preauthorization
A decision by your health insurer or plan—sometimes called prior authorization, prior approval or precertification—that a health care service, treatment plan, prescription drug or durable medical equipment is medically necessary. Your health insurance or plan may require preauthorization for certain services before you receive them, except in an emergency. Preauthorization isn’t a promise your health insurance or plan will cover the cost.
Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
A type of health insurance arrangement that allows enrolled participants the flexibility to choose in- and out-of-network providers, and does not require a Primary Care Physician to coordinate care.
Premium
The portion you contribute toward having benefits coverage through payroll deductions, also referred to as contributions.
Prescription Drugs
Drugs and medications that by law require a prescription.
Prescription Drug Coverage
Coverage under a plan that helps pay for prescription drugs. If the plan’s formulary uses “tiers” (levels), prescription drugs are grouped together by type or cost. The amount you'll pay in cost sharing will be different for each "tier" of covered prescription drugs.
Pre-tax
Payroll contributions made before taxes are taken out. Taxes are not owed for qualified expenses if you use your Health Savings Account (HSA), Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). For the 401(k) Plan, this means you defer paying taxes until you make an eligible withdrawal in retirement. Those withdrawals will be subject to taxes.
Preventive Care
Routine checkups, tests and procedures intended to monitor your health and detect and address illnesses or conditions early.
Primary Care Physician (PCP)
A primary doctor required with an HMO—and highly encouraged with all other medical options—who is responsible for coordinating care and making referrals to specialists.
Reasonable & Customary
The prevailing charge made by physicians of similar expertise for a similar procedure in a particular geographic area.
Reconstructive Surgery: Surgery and follow-up treatment needed to correct or improve a part of the body because of birth defects, accidents, injuries or medical conditions.
Referral
A written order from a primary doctor to see a specialist or get certain health care services. For the HMO medical options, you must get a referral before you can receive health care services from anyone except your Primary Care Physician (PCP) If you don’t get a referral first, the plan may not pay for the services.
Rehabilitation Services
Health care services that help you keep, get back or improve skills and functioning for daily living that have been lost or impaired because you were sick, hurt or disabled. These services may include physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and psychiatric rehabilitation services in a variety of inpatient and/or outpatient settings.
Roth
Roth contributions are payroll contributions made to the 401(k) Plan after taxes are taken out. Qualified withdrawals in retirement (at least five tax years since the year of your first Roth contribution and after you have attained age 59½ or become disabled or deceased) can be federally tax-free.
Screening
A type of preventive care that includes tests or exams to detect the presence of something, usually performed when you have no symptoms, signs or prevailing medical history of a disease or condition.
Skilled Care Services
Services performed by therapists or technicians (not licensed nurses) in your home or in a nursing home.
Skilled Nursing Care
Services performed or supervised by licensed nurses in your home or in a nursing home. Skilled nursing care is not the same as “skilled care services.”
Specialist
A provider focused on a specific area of medicine or group of patients to diagnose, manage, prevent or treat certain types of symptoms and conditions.
Specialty Drug
A type of prescription drug that, in general, requires special handling or ongoing monitoring and assessment by a health care professional, or is relatively difficult to dispense. Generally, specialty drugs are the most expensive drugs on a formulary.
Stock
A type of investment that represents an ownership share in a company. Investors buy stocks that they think will go up in value over time.
Supplemental
An optional, employee-paid benefit that adds an extra layer of coverage to a policy or benefit like Basic Life and Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) Insurance or Basic Long-Term Disability coverage.
Target Retirement Date Fund
These investment options are for investors who want one professionally managed fund. Each Target Retirement Date Fund contains a combination of stocks, bonds and short-term investments in a single fund that becomes increasingly conservative as it approaches the fund's target date.
Urgent Care
Care for an illness, injury or condition serious enough that a reasonable person would seek care right away, but not so severe as to require emergency room care.
Vested
The portion of a retirement benefit that you are entitled to, even if you leave the Company.