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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInsurance Committee Minutes 04.16.2015 HEALTH INSURANCE COMMITTEE Thursday,April 16,2015 1:30 P.M.@ City Hall Members Present: Heidi Jensen Monica Salo Shirley Ewan Cathy Gabrian Stan Langve Jason Shovar Jason Wells Others Present: Sherry Phillips Fran Schweigert Jean Kerr Dave Allen The meeting was called to order by Heidi at 1:45 p.m. Public Comment: Jason Shovar said he would like to discuss election procedures and wants to make sure it is done according to Resolution No. R09-61. It will be on the next agenda. Presentation by Dave Allen on insurance options for FY 15-16: Dave was asked to look into other insurance companies and see what is out there and if we could gets quotes. He is a licensed agent and represents many different companies. His objective is to do due diligence for the city. Montana has a limited number of carriers due to the small population of our state. Carriers in Montana to consider are MMIA,the CO-OP and Pacific Source. We are currently considered a large group but due to changes in 2016, we will be considered a small group. Dave said the companies indicated they would love to give us a quote but the bottom line is they need health statements from each employee. BCBS did give us a renewal with an 8.7% increase for our existing plan and also a second option that would be a 2.6% increase. The city would have to choose to either stay with our current plan or choose Option 1. Both plans include a high (80/20) and low (70/30) option. Dave explained how the ACA requirements have directly influenced the rates. A new requirement is the Medical Loss Ratio which requires companies to reimburse or lower the rates if they do not pay out 80% of premiums collected in claims. This has standardized rates across the board when comparing plans that are the same. A big difference between the plans is the provider network. BCBS has 100% of the hospitals in Montana and 94%of the doctors with a large provider network nationwide. The Montana Health CO-OP was started in 2014 and was funded by federal dollars in order to provide competition in the market. They have 40,000 members. This is a `connected plan' which means it is tied to St.Vincent's Hospital and there is a premium break for this option. Their `access care plan' allows for both hospitals and the premium is aligned with BCBS. The network works well here but individuals need to research providers when accessing it out of our area or out of state. Jason Wells in not happy with BCBS coverage and said the family premium is unheard of. If he could save 3%on$1,800 he would like to look into it. Pacific Source is tied to Billings Clinic and in working with the different insurances, Dave has not seen any premium relief with them. With St. Vincent's clinic in Laurel, many employees have a relationship with them and may not be willing to switch doctors and hospitals. Assurant is another company but they have not been competitive for two years. MMIA had premium increases of 10-12% this year. They offer four different plans that employees can choose from. Insurance Committee Minutes Page 2,April 16,2015 Dave said he has seen stabilization in the market. Small groups under 50 have had decreases on the bronze plans and smaller increases on the silver and gold plans. The city is in the Small Merit Pool which means we are pooled with other small groups and the risk is spread among all groups so one bad claim year doesn't directly affect our rates. EBMS is only for Montana and there is no coverage out of state so we are not looking at this plan. Dave said the BCBS network is so large nationwide and has easy access. When clients choose other insurance,he always informs them about the more limited networks and it is written in their contracts, but then instances come up where they have used doctors that are not in the network and they are shocked at the charges; it is very expensive. It was clarified that management makes the decision and council approves it. Jason Wells agreed it was a management right when the employer paid the full premium but when employees started paying,the union negotiated and he feels they have a say in it. The committee was set up as a majority vote, knowing not everyone will agree. The city is spending the employees' money and that benefit was negotiated in lieu of giving up wage so he feels the employees have a say in choosing. Jason Shovar was adamant that the committee needs to follow the resolution. Everyone has different needs regarding their insurance and as a committee, we need to be diligent in choosing the insurance that is the best for the entire group. Shirley asked the committee who would be willing to fill out health statements in order to get quotes and the members were willing to do this. It was suggested to have employees fill out an anonymous questionnaire about what they want in their insurance. It was decided to hand out the health statement on Friday, April 17th and require them to be returned by Friday, April 24`h. Dave will be at city hall on Tuesday and Thursday from 2-4 p.m. to help anyone with the form and to answer questions. Dave asked that if he approaches an insurance company and they do not have a plan that mirrors our plan, should he get a quote. The committee left it up to Dave to make that decision based on what the differences are. The info will be passed out on Friday with an envelope and employees are asked to put the completed forms in the envelope, seal it and return it to Cathy or Dave. The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, t 46/ :! c }} /L L-- Cathy Cathy gabrian