Agenda - Council - 08/13/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I I RECOMMENDATION FOR HEALTH CARE COVERAGE CONTRACT FOR 9/01/96 TO 8/31/97 BY: Linda Waite Smith, Administrative Services Manager Background: The City's health care plan expires on August 31, 1996. In anticipation of this, a group of people representing AFSCME (Arlene Stafford), LELS (Jim Way), and Exempt Employees (Linda Waite Smith) spent several months researching insurance options for City employees. In the process they: * surveyed other cities and private employers to find out what plans they used and what premiums they pay; * surveyed Ramsey employees to find out what issues were most important to them; * explored several consortiums formed for the purpose of obtaining better insurance rates; * worked with an insurance agent to find out if there were other options available in the market place; * asked employees to complete health historyies in order to have the City's experience * rating (rate of utilization) lowered; and * reported their findings to other employees and invited their input. At the end of this process, the conclusion of the research group and the insurance agent was that City employees .will be best served by staying with the Public Employees Insurance Program (PEIP). PEIP offers employees a choice of three health care plans: Medica, Health Partners and Blue Plus. Rates for the next contract year, September 1, 1996 through August 31, 1997, will be lower for family coverage~ and higher for single coverage. Effective August 1, 1996 the City contribution is $312 per month for family coverage and $290 per month for single coverage. I I I I I I PLAN CURRENT RATES/month* RENEWAL RATES/month Medica Single $134.08 $146.03 Family $451.93 $410.15 Health Partners: Single $143.67 $161.15 Family $484.26 Blue Plus Single $166.54 Family $561.32 * Current rates include commission paid to insurance agent. $452.64 $176.87 $496.78 The current rates include a commission for an insurance agent whose contact expires August 31, 1996. His assistance was valuable when the City was making the original transition to PEIP, but is not requir~ed for participation in PEIP. City staff deals directly with the agency that administers the plans, sd there is now little need for an agent's assistance.