Health Insurance Advisory Committee

Employee Health Insurance Advisory Committee Minutes August 24, 2017 Meeting called to Order – 9:00 a.m. Minutes from November 1st, 2016 meeting approved Old business – None City Administrator, Tim Harr, welcomed Kerry Baugher and Kari Unterbrink from Cornerstone Insurance Group. Tim advised the purpose of the meeting was to share “likes” and “dislikes” from members of the committee and their co-workers related to the current medical insurance plan provider, United Healthcare. Lengthy discussion followed on the issue of prescription coverage and the negative issues employees are experiencing. Included in this discussion was the cost of prescriptions, the required “step therapy” process first for scripts prescribed by physicians, the push by UHC for employees to enroll in UHC mail order program-Optum Rx. Kerry and Kari explained UHC’s policies and procedures related to employees’ prescription issues. They also planned to contact UHC with the concerns and follow up with employees’ individual problems. The issue of “high tech diagnostics” was discussed, stating under Coventry those tests were covered with a $200 copay, and now under UHC are applied to a deductible first. Kari stated she would include the prior high tech diagnostic coverage-$200 copay as an option in a pricing quote for 2018. LabCorp vs. Quest diagnostic was also discussed and it was noted LabCorp should not be asking for upfront payments. Positive feedback was received on the UHC Wellness plans and the online cost estimate feature. Kari stated Cornerstone should be receiving quotes from insurance providers after October 1st and would hope to have City renewal quotes a few weeks after that date. She also stated the HRA-Health Reimbursement Arrangement portion of our plan saves approx $180,000 annually. 85% of employees/dependents never incur more than copays and prescription costs. Therefore, 15% have expenses that are applied to annual deductibles. Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m. rb