2009.4-21
Joint Health Care Committee Notes
2:00 – 4:00 p.m. via video
Anchorage: Admin 204
Fairbanks: Butrovich 212b
Juneau: Egan 116
Present
Union: John O. Riley, UNAC; Colin Clausson, 6070; Tim Powers, UAFT; Rick McDonald,
UAFT; Jennifer Madison (6070 Alternate); Jay Sowell, 6070
Management: Beth Behner, Heather Swanson, Wendy Tisland, Yvonne Boyce, Lisa Sporleder
(Alternate)
Staff: Mike Humphrey, Director of Benefits
Staff: Cyndee West, UNAC Contract Administrator; Jane Reilly, UNAC
Guests: Thandi Clements, VSP Account Representative; Shannon Brady Garman and Summer
Neuroth, WIN Alaska
Absent
Union: Jane Weber, UAFT; Tim Hinterberger (UNAC Alternate); Jacob Joseph, UNAC
Management: Stuart Roberts
Staff: Erika Van Flein, Benefits Administrator
John O. Riley called the meeting to order at 2:15. The agenda was approved. The minutes from
the previous meeting on April 17, 2009, were unavailable for approval.
Presentation
Thandi Clements, Account Representative for VSP presented a review of the VSP report. One
sheet was a client profile that broke down the type of claims (service provided, member out of
pocket expenses, enhancements, and basic client statistics. The second sheet presented the
numbers for the past 12 months, but only the past seven months represent the current contract.
Gross claims for these months are $365,742 and gross premiums are $435,098, so at this point
VSP does not expect a rate increase with the next contract renewal. The national trend in
network utilization is 90%; in the UA system the network utilization has increased from 70% to
81%.
1
Summer Neuroth and Shannon Brady Garman reviewed the February 2009 monthly program
report for WIN. Participation numbers are broken out by activity (events, newsletter, customer
service, wellness breaks and biometric screenings and Get the Point activities). 1930 Personal
Wellness Profiles (PWPs) have been returned to date, and monthly reminders are being sent to
UA employees. As the PWPs run on an annual basis, a year’s data report will be available in
August covering the past year’s information through June ’09. There are currently 705 total
Individual Health Planning Session (IHP) enrollees. The system target number was 864: UAF at
500, for UAA at 311, and Juneau at 54. To date, the percentage of IHP enrollees compared to
the goal numbers is: 67% at UAF, 88% at UAA, and 100% at Juneau. At this time, WIN does
not expect to raise their service costs if those services currently provided are continued. WIN
provided a calendar that broke down the four main areas of service (consulting and
administrative services, on-line services, on-site services, and consultant services) within a time
frame. There was no feedback discussion on the PWPs. WIN discussed the unexpected problem
of cancelled or missed IHP appointments, which block off time and reduce the number of contact
hours. Ms. Neuroth and Ms. Brady Garman concluded with a description of their trip to a
wellness institute with an emphasis on the need for time to establish a “culture” of wellness.
Cyndee West presented a rough draft of a JHCC newsletter. She asked for suggestions and
corrections. Perhaps Mr. Humphrey’s letter should be revised as it duplicates correspondence
previously sent to faculty and staff. There should be a clarification as to what benefits are selfinsured, what is contracted out and to whom, and what coverage is purchased insurance. UNAC
can do this. There was discussion as to who would pay for the printing and postage of this
newsletter. Estimated costs range from $3500 to $5000. The newsletter is a communication that
comes directly from the JHCC rather than a contracted provider. Beth Behner authorized this
expense to be paid by the University.
Ms. Behner proposed the JHCC listen to a presentation by Robert Lambert-Lee of ADP National
Account Services. The presentation is to provide details of the benefit of conducting a
“dependent care audit,” a service that can be outsourced to ADP, or perhaps another company
with the same product. HR feels it the University receives good assistance in removing
ineligible dependents who have “aged out” of coverage, but ADP projects large savings possible
through a dependent audit program. Lisa Sporleder asked if this wasn’t usually a function
performed by a “blind audit” with the Human Resources department, and wondered if is it
necessary to outsource this job. There was some discussion as to the invasion of privacy issues
that may arise in attempting to verify dependent status. Beth thinks we may be able to get
guidance for this type of audit even if it is performed as a University function. It was agree to
have Mr. Lambert-Lee give JHCC a presentation on May 8, at 10:00 a.m.
Mike Humphrey went over the time line he had prepared with suggestions for the JHCC’s
agendas for the coming year. It outlines possible meeting themes, such as dependent eligibility
2
audit and vendor and provider reports, as well as deadline dates for proposed changes to plan
design and rate changes.
There was discussion on the cost effectiveness of requiring health services be performed at an
Alaska location at a $4000 cost over the same procedure if it were done in the lower 48. Would
it be possible to save the University money by having employees use health care providers
outside of Alaska when the cost disparity is so great? The two main problems with this are the
paperwork involved in paying for flights and hotels in addition to the procedural costs, and the
need to support health providers in Alaska or they may not be available in the future.
There has been some trouble with people trying to file their Personal Wellness Profiles and for
them to be able to verify that the submissions have been received. After discussion, it was
agreed the best thing was to call WIN’s customer service number. Website verification can be a
goal for next year’s PWP campaign.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at at
3:50 p.m.
3