2009. 9-22
Joint Health Care Committee
2:00 – 4:00 pm via video
Anchorage: Admin 204
Fairbanks: Butrovich 212b
Juneau: Egan 116
Present
Union: John O. Riley, (UNAC); Tim Hinterberger (UNAC Alternate); J. Sowell, (6070, phone);
Colin Clausson, (6070); Tim Powers, (UAFT, phone); Jennifer Madsen (6070 Alternate); Jacob
Joseph, (UNAC)
Management: Beth Behner, Yvonne Boyce, Wendy Tisland (Alternate), Heather Swanson, Lisa
Sporleder (Alternate), Gwenna Richardson (Alternate, phone), Stuart Roberts
Staff: Mike Humphrey, Director of Benefits; Erika Van Flein, Benefits Administrator
Staff: Cyndee West, UNAC Contractor Manager (phone); Jane Reilly, UNAC
Guests: WIN Associates: Summer Neuroth, Shannon Brady Garman, and Amy Marchin
Absent
Union: Jane Weber (UAFT), Gail Opalinski (UAFT Alternate),
John Riley convened the meeting at 2:10 pm
Roll call was completed.
The minutes from the August 18 meeting were approved.
Presentation
WIN ALASKA REPORT – Report given and much of the information was the same as
previous minutes. Chair John Riley saw no need to have it in here again.
INSURANCE CARDS
The committee discussed various types of ID cards that could be provided to employees. The
original intent was to determine if there would be a way to supply one card with all of the
vendor’s ID numbers and contact information. This would have to be outsourced to a vendor
who could provide the original 10,000 cards with individualized information as well as ongoing
monthly updates. The cost would be prohibitive. Other options would be a card that specified
vendors information and benefits, but the employee would need to complete the actual ID
numbers. These handwritten card numbers would be cumbersome for photocopying and may not
be acceptable to a medical provider. They would also need to be updated by the employee as
their specifics or benefits changed. As Tim Powers has already completed his own information
card, the idea was tabled.
POSITIVE EMPLOYEE ENROLLMENT
Discussion on this issue will be postponed until the committee has heard the recommendations
from Fall River Consulting.
WELLNESS EMPLOYEE INCENTIVES
There is $300,000 available for wellness incentives to be used before June 30th, 2010. If the
money is not used, it is not available to carry over to the next year. Last year approximately
$100,000 to $150,000 of this amount was used.* Discussion on this was postponed to later due
to time constraints.
DISEASE MANAGEMENT
Mr. Humphrey distributed a plan comparison between the existing DM program with
Premera/Healthways and Caremark/Accordant. The main difference between the two is the
method used to determine eligibility. The former uses the medical claim records while the latter
uses dispensed medication claims. It is assumed that if UA switches to Accordant, that Premera
will provide a medical claims data feed to Accordant on a bi-monthly schedule to assure that
members who are diagnosed without medication are not missed. Ms. Swanson thinks that if a
faster “trigger” for participation is employed the participant would be reached during a more
“teachable moment”. Accordant covers a few more conditions than Premera does, including
peptic ulcer and asthma (which research shows is a particularly successfully mentored condition)
and their projected cost is somewhat lower than Premera’s. The downside is having to reeducate
the employees to a new vendor, a new nurse, a new caller, new data, etc. Accordant welcomes
UA input in design of the introductory letters as well as transition correspondence.* A slow
change-over is not possible. Ms. Swanson likes the ability of Accordant to work with WIN. The
question was raised whether cancelling the DM contract with Premera would affect our other
services provided by their company. Mr. Humphrey will check to make sure there will be no
changes with the remaining Premera services and if not, he will initiate the change from Premera
to Accordant.
PHARMACY PLAN OPTIONS
There was initial discussion on possible pharmacy options as summarized in Mr. Humphrey’s
hand out. Ms. Madsen expressed concern over the option of mandatory mail order use for
maintenance prescriptions. This could have a profound effect on the Juneau community as the
UA prescriptions are an important part of their local pharmacy revenues. Further discussion on
this subject was delayed until the October meeting.
WELLNESS EMPLOYEE INCENTIVES
The committee returned to the discussion of the $300,000 wellness incentive money. Last year
approximately $100,000 to $150,000 of this amount was used. Perhaps the committee should
authorize the same incentives as employed last year through the WIN program’s GTP or “Know
Your Numbers” campaigns, but with more advertising and lead time. Perhaps other incentives
would be more effective if they were tailored to individual MAUs. Access to the WIN website
has been restrictive. Again, further discussion of this will follow the Fall River Consulting
presentation. Mr. Humphrey reminded the committee that the decision on this should be made
by December.
*This transition is important as the strength of the relationship between the nurse/provider and
the employee is what promotes the success of the DM program and participants may resent this
change more than anticipated.