HomeMy WebLinkAboutInsurance Committee Minutes 02.23.2010HEALTH INSURANCE COMMITTEE
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2:00 P.M. @ City Hall
Members Present: Donnie Nelson Monica Salo
Cathy Gabrian Chuck Dickerson
Bill Brew H.P. Nuernberger
Bill Sheridan (arrived at 3:20 p.m.)
Others Present: Mayor Olson Mary Embleton
In the absence of Bill Sheridan, Chuck Dickerson conducted the meeting. He stated Mayor Olson asked
that a meeting be called so he could address the committee.
The Mayor stated this is a very important decision which affects all employees. He feels this issue is not
ready to go to the council, citing the committee guidelines under the Role of the Insurance Committee,
"the recommendation will be sent to the Mayor for consideration and if requested, placed on the Council
Workshop Agenda for further consideration". Even though there was a majority vote, it has come to his
attention that some employees did not vote and would like to. He is not questioning the process for
voting but feels that the Council needs total transparency in order to make a good decision. They may not
see the issue for the muddy water. He is putting this back to the committee and asking the committee to
consider another vote of all employees.
The Mayor contacted MMIA and asked them for an extension of the deadline. This is a decision that their
Board of Directors makes but Alan Hulse, CEO, went out on a limb and granted us an extension until
Wednesday, March 3`d. If a new vote could be taken this week and the majority ruled in favor of
changing plans, the council could act on it at the regular meeting on Tuesday. A letter could then be
faxed to MMIA on Wednesday morning.
H.P. was concerned about the by-laws of the union. Donnie said all union employees were notified
except for one person. Now they are being asked to change their rules to accommodate those who chose
not to attend the meeting and vote.
Monica said the police union would not consider another vote. Everyone was given information and had
the opportunity to attend the meeting with Mick, after which they voted. Those that did not vote are
comfortable with the majority vote. Monica said personally, she loves our MMIA insurance but cannot
afford the family premiums.
Donnie said he and H.P. voted the way the union wanted, which was the majority. It was questioned
whether they could split their vote since it was such a close vote and they said they cannot.
Chuck said he understands where everyone is coming from but as an Alderman who will have to make a
final decision, he would like to know that everyone voted and had a say in it. Chuck stated the bargaining
units can choose to go out on their own for insurance.
H.P. said this is the first he has heard of this and questioned that if this is true, it should have been put in
the RFP. Discussion followed and Mary indicated that Amanda spoke of this when she was down but no
one on the committee heard it or was aware of it. Mary spoke regarding our different insurance plans in
the past and how we had two different carriers for a period of time, several years ago. It was stated that if
a union chooses to go out on their own, they would be responsible for negotiating a contract with a
company. The city would not be involved but the city would continue to pay insurance at the current
caps. It was felt that a small group would not get as good a rate and it would also affect the overall
group, as it would drop us below the 51-99 pool that premiums are currently based on. It was clarified
that if a
Page 2, Health Insurance Committee
February 19, 2010
Bargaining unit would choose to do this, the entire unit would have to go, and they could not pick and
choose within the unit whether to stay or go.
Mayor Olson said Sam gave him information of how to look at this. He has to look at the fact that he has
to bring forward the concerns of all employees.
Cathy said this committee has spent a lot of time on this and feels we need to have 100% participation
from all employees to make a decision.
Reference was made to a handout Mary had put in the Aldermen's mailboxes. Mary explained that
MMIA was formed in order to obtain reasonable liability and worker's comp. coverage. Later they
expanded into property insurance and most recently, health insurance. She stated that we have
representation on the committee, with Bill being our representative. If we choose BCBS, we will not
have representation. In reference to a question, Mary said that if we pull out of the MMIA health
insurance, the city can still participate in the liability, worker's comp. and property insurance programs.
Donnie said he will go to the executive board of Union #316 tomorrow morning. The existing votes will
stand and he said the remaining six employees will vote.
Donnie moved to rescind his vote to recommend to the Council to go with BCBS, seconded by H.P.
Motion carried 4-2 with Bill Brew and Monica voting nay.
It was questioned whether we needed an affirmative vote of five. The Mayor said Bill Sheridan was in a
department head meeting and he asked him to come to this meeting. Chuck brought Bill Sheridan up to
date on what has been happening and Bill stated he would vote in favor of rescinding the motion.
The final vote to rescind the motion carried 5-2 with Bill and Monica voting nay.
The Mayor explained that the Special Council meeting, scheduled for tonight, will go forward but the
council will not take action on this item. It will go to workshop and then be put on the agenda for the
regular council meeting on Tuesday, March 2"d. If the committee makes a recommendation to change to
BCBS, the council can act on it. If the committee chooses to stay with MMIA, no recommendation will
be made and the item will be removed from the agenda at the start of the meeting.
A vote of the remaining members will be taken on Wednesday and the committee will meet again on
Wednesday, February, 24`h at 4:30 p.m.
It was stated that if the council voted against the committee recommendation, they would have to give an
explanation to the union and re-negotiate it but we would run out of time. Monica said she is clearly
frustrated that this is happening because of a couple of naysayers.
Motion by Bill, seconded by Donnie to meet on Wednesday, February 20 at 4:30 p.m.
Meeting adjourned at 3:25 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cathy Ga rian