MINUTES
EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS COMMITTEE
March 28th, 2013
Members Present
Debbie Copp
Will Wayne
Suzanne Gilmore
Suzanne Harrell
Members Absent
Brenda Freese - Chair
Don Harrison
Suzanne Gilmore
Ron Kantowski
Vince Leseney
Jannie Porter
Jerry Weber
Don Clothier
Aimee Franklin
Chad Johnson
Frances Wen
Alisa Dougless
Ex Officio Members
Angela Hawpe
Les Hoven
Nick Kelly
Tricia Rahal
Breion Rollins
Sarah Millsap
The meeting was called to order by Will Wayne at 1:32 pm.
I.
Approval of Minutes
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The February minutes were approved with minor grammatical corrections.
II. BCBS 2014 Renewal Initial Discussion / Health Care Reform
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Potential medical increases are 10% for PPO and 20% for HMO, but there
is a possibility of negotiating a slight reduction with BCBS.
Health Care Reform automatically creates a 4% increase without any
other changes, plus the claims experience on the HMO is not looking
good.
Our Benefits Analysis team is analyzing claims experience data and
premiums/cost as we all look for possible options/resolutions. Some
examples might be: modifying the salary tiers, eliminating the HMO
altogether, and adjusting existing plan designs.
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We will be meeting with Segal consultants within the next month and we
will provide an update on the renewal numbers and options at the next
EBC meeting.
III. Dependent Attestation Results
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To date approximately 95% of all employees have responded. This
process has saved the university approximately $150,000. We plan to
repeat this process every 1-2 years.
IV. Payflex Debit Card Change
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Effective 4/1/13, due to a change in federal law, all Payflex card users will
be required to set a PIN. This is due to the Durbin amendment, which
allows health providers to run FSA cards as debit instead of credit.
Communications have already gone out to all affected.
V. Wellness Initiatives for 2013 & 2014
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The Wellness Team is working on additional incentives for participation;
some lottery-style incentives have been approved and are in progress.
In order to help “soften the blow” of the insurance increases, another
wellness opportunity may be to embed incentives into premiums/insurance
(i.e., premium discounts, lower deductible, etc.) for wellness participation
Recently OU was awarded “Certified Healthy Campus of Excellence”
There is a push to have additional fitness centers available for
faculty/staff. The Fitness Program (available through BCBS) is an option –
Breion/Wellness Team working on having the local YMCA join the Fitness
Program network of participating fitness centers.
VI. Retirement Updates – OTRS/Fidelity/Retiree Medical
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VII.
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Effective 7/1/13, some eligibility changes are taking place, primarily is that
all experience will be prorated. Example: those at 0.8 fte will get 0.8 credit,
not 1.0.
For OTRS, full-year credit will not be given to those that only worked 6
months.
Fidelity annual fees were reduced effective 1/1/13 from $78 to $65 per
member.
On 1/1/2016, the retiree age/service matrix will go into effect and will apply
only to those eligible to retire on or after 1/1/2016.
Updates from the Director
Les reiterated his support for the wellness programs and the need to
continue educating employees on available resources.
VIII. Other Business
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The recent formatting changes to the HR Newsletter are being wellreceived.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:39 p.m.