MINUTES
EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS COMMITTEE
September 16, 2010
Members Present
Don Clothier
Debbie Copp
Alisa Dougless
Brenda Freese - Chair
Suzanne Gilmore
Frank Lawler
Members Absent
Don Harrison
Chad Johnson
Simone Pulat
Sue-Anna Miller
Scott Moses
Jannie Porter
Will Wayne
Frances Wen
Justin Wert
Guests (via teleconference)
Charlie Weibel – RV Kuhns
Ex Officio Members Present
Julius Hilburn
Nick Kelly
Ex Officio Members Absent
Barbara Abercrombie
The meeting was called to order by Will Wayne at 1:35 pm.
I.
Approval of Minutes

The August minutes were approved with no changes.
II. 2011 Health and Dental Insurance Renewal
 On August 25th, after the EBC meeting, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a law
requiring a 1% fee on all health claims, which was passed during the 2010 legislative
session. As a result BCBS removed an additional 1% from the finalized OU rate
increase.
 On September 10th, subsequent to the EBC meeting, Community Care agreed to lower
their 2011 renewal rates from12% to 9%.
 After reconsideration of both BCBS and CommunityCare HMO, final rates will be as
follows:
 PPO – 4.3%
 HMO - 11.1%
 Community Care HMO – 9%







Rates will be sent to the Board of Regents for approval the week of September 20th.
Open Enrollment is scheduled for the week of November 4th through the 12th.
 No plan design changes
 Dental 10% increase
Post-65 rates reduced 36.5%
 Medicare drug costs dropped which resulted in a reduction of the risk
margin
 Plan experience was better than expected
Human Resources is already looking at the plan year 2012 and will work to aggressively
manage insurance premium increases. OU is willing to negotiate a possible rate
guarantee for 2012 with BCBS, but as of this time there has been no indication BCBS is
willing to offer a suitable guarantee.
OU may go to market with an RFP in late 2010 or early 2011 for the following benefits:
 Health
 Dental
 Life, AD&D
 Vision
EBC members will be involved in the vendor selection process as RFP committee
members.
As a result of the RFP process, the incumbent vendor, PayFlex, was recently awarded the
contract to remain OUs vendor for flexible spending accounts, COBRA billing, and
Retiree billing.
 There has been some concern about the member number used during the
login process on the PayFlex website. The number should be 990 and then
the employee ID number. Human Resources will provide additional
communication about this issue during open enrollment.
III. Master Record-Keeper Update

Julius provided an overview and some background on what prompted OU to begin the
search for a master record keeper.
 Regulatory changes
 Changes in best practices
 Desire to improve participant experience and outcomes
 Charlie Weibel, Sr. Consultant, from RV Kuhns was in attendance via telephone. RV
Kuhns is the consulting firm chosen to assist OU with the transition to a competitive,
state of the art plan.
 RV Kuhns is a 25 year old company with approximately 100 employees.
 Their average client has $650 million in funds to manage.
 The following investment fund structure is being developed:
 Tier 1 -Target Date Retirement Funds
 Designed for employees using their planned retirement date to
manage the degree of risk in their investments.




Default option for employees who do not make investment
elections.
 Tier 2 – Core Lineup
 A mixture of active and passive equity and fixed income funds–
probably 12-15 funds
 Tier 3, Self-Directed Brokerage
 There will be over 3,000 options available
Fund Transition Process:
 All employees will be required to make new fund elections or re-affirm
current elections.
 Employees will be given the time and tools (i.e., financial counselors) to
make an informed decision.
 Employees who fail to make or re-affirm elections will have their funds
directed to the age-appropriate target retirement date funds.
 TIAA-CREF funds will not be redirected, but can be moved by the
employee if desired.
There will be many advantages to the employee after the transition.
 Administrative fees will be clearly stated
 60-100 days of on-campus meeting opportunities with retirement
counselors per year
 One on one meetings available with retirement counselors
 Online enrollment
 Consolidated statements
 Loans will be available from voluntary plans
 Fees for financial planner services can be paid from account
Human Resources will be meeting with the governance groups over the next couple of
months to discuss the proposed change in defined contribution plan administration and
investment options, and the tentative timeline for implementation.
Comment: Scott stated that there needs to be a larger number of index funds in tier 2 to cover
asset classes that are not currently represented by the current set of 4 index funds. Examples of
additional asset classes include real estate investment trusts and short-term bonds.
Response: Charlie told the group that RV Kuhns will review the options Scott suggested.
Question: Scott asked what the funds, fees, etc. are and when they will be available.
Response: Julius indicated the Retirement Plans Management Committee will meet in early
October and make recommendations regarding funds and fees. This information will be then be
available.

Anticipated timeline
 December 2010
 Proposal to Regents



Employee education and communication to begin after regent’s
approval
Spring 2011
 Employees to make investment choices
Late Spring/Early Summer 2011
 Implementation
IV. Updates from the Chief Human Resources Officer


Julius discussed with the group his conversations with the Administration regarding the
budget for 2012. At this time a significant shortfall is expected and the issues appear to
be long-term concerns. The shortfall will be a cumulative result of the following:
 State revenues will be limited as they have not fully recovered from the
economic downturn.
 Federal stimulus money will not be available in FY 2012.
 Limited State rainy day funds to address any budget shortfalls.
Human Resources has been asked to identify and evaluate various options to reduce
benefits costs. The EBC will be asked to actively participate in the evaluation of potential
benefit reduction strategies identified.
V. Other Business

Brenda will revise the annual report draft and distribute to the committee.
Discussion will resume in October.
The next EBC meeting will be Thursday, October 21, 2010.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:25 p.m.