JHCC Meeting,
April 18 2011
JHCC Chair Rich Seifert called the meeting to order.
Attendance was taken; there was a quorum for the meeting, with 13 members in
attendance.
Present:
Union: Richard Seifert (UNAC), Melanie Arthur (UNAC), Jennifer Madson (6070
Alternate), Jay Sowell (6070), Tim Powers (UAFT), Gail Opalinski, (UAFT Alternate),
Jane Weber (UAFT)
Management: Beth Behner, Stuart Roberts, Wendy Tisland. Staff Alliance: Gwenna
Richardson, Lisa Sporleder (Alternate), Megan Carlson (2nd Alternate)
Staff: Mike Humphrey, Erika Van Flein, Cyndee West
Guests: David Hinckley and Timothy Armbruster
Absent:
Colin Clausson (6070)
Rich Siefert Chair of the JHCC called the meeting to order.
Additions to the agenda were discussed. It was agreed that regular items would be added
to JHCC meetings. A Chair’s comment period will be listed after the review and
approval of prior meeting notes, and member’s comments will be at the end of each
meeting. A change to this agenda was to add 10 minutes to the discussion of the tabled
motion on expanding the health plan pool. The agenda was approved.
The notes of the March meeting were reviewed and approved, incorporating any noted
changes.
In the Chair’s comments, Rich discussed his view that JHCC should look into what was
driving the costs of the health care plan. He stated the importance of giving ownership to
the group; involving our own faculty and staff members could help in this process. He
suggested that JHCC may want to recommend an RFP for research into health care costs,
which would be open to Faculty and Staff.
Erika gave an update on the dependent audit. She stated that it was on track. UA is now
at a 96% response rate for employees, and a 95% response rate on the dependent level.
There are 2546 employees who are at a completed status, with verification finished for
5017 dependents. There are 163 employees who have incomplete status, involving 191
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JHCC Meeting,
April 18 2011
dependents. There are 123 employees who have not responded to the audit, who have 252
dependents. There are 28 self declared ineligible dependents.
Mike gave an update on Open Enrollment, which recently began. Communications and
information have been sent out to all employees by USPS, and Health Care Forums have
been set up for the MAUs. More employees than expected are considering the HDHP,
from comments received. Melanie stated that there is no way to run the scenario to make
the 500 plan beneficial to employees.
Rich Seifert discussed the revisit of the tabled motion and a sub-group was developed to
meet and discuss the idea of enlarging our health care pool. JHCC members Rich Seifert,
Jane Weber, Melanie Arthur and Wendy Tisland will be on the subcommittee. David
Hinckley, of Lockton, will be available as a resource. The subcommittee will meet and
bring back information for consideration to the JHCC’s next meeting. The subcommittee
will look at the possibility of expanding the pool, perhaps by joining with the state of
Alaska. More info will be provided by David regarding legal restrictions of our joining
in with other employers to enlarge our pool. The subcommittee will also look at
pharmacy changes such as are offered by joining a cooperative, even if more restrictive
features are then available. We may want to bring in individuals to present the options.
The JHCC discussed the possibility of using Lockton’s tool, Info Lock, to review claims
information. UA faculty can conduct research, but could not access personally
identifiable data in InfoLock, as health care claims information is confidential and may
only be reported to UA in aggregate form. All health care and pharmacy utilization data
is in Infolock for the last two to three years and the tool and its reporting capabilities are
nearing completion for our use.
The Group Charter of the JHCC was addressed, in reference to an update of the Charter
being needed. A subcommittee was suggested and the following individuals agreed to
meet and bring back suggestions to the JHCC. Rich Siefert, Gwenna Richardson, Tim
Powers, and Beth Behner will meet and bring a document back for consideration to the
entire group. Stuart says the charter should not list names, should be a static document
and not need updating when individuals change.
A memo was distributed and reviewed, which had been prepared by the tobacco
surcharge subcommittee. After much discussion it was determined that the
subcommittee’s first recommendation was not applicable; the University has already
determined that the tobacco surcharge will be in place in FY13. The University only
agreed to postpone, not cancel, the surcharge for FY12. This was done, in part, so that a
tobacco cessation program could be in place to assist employees who want to stop using
tobacco before we begin the surcharge. Gwenna made a motion that the subcommittee
continue looking at positive ways to implement this. Jane asked whether it would be
useful to have the subcommittee continue working on this topic when they were not in
favor of implementing the surcharge. Melanie Arthur commented for the record that she
is not in favor of not implementing this surcharge. It was suggested that more members
needed to be added to this committee. Lisa stated that she didn’t believe JHCC needed to
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JHCC Meeting,
April 18 2011
accept or reject Gwenna’s motion; the committee could just continue to work on the
tasks. Stewart says a principled approach would be to work with staff to determine what
can be done to implement this tobacco surcharge and how can we make it positive rather
than negative.
The WIN Activities report from David Hinckley from Lockton was moved to the next
meeting because time ran out.
The advantages and disadvantages of an HRA compared to an HSA was moved to the
next meeting because time ran out.
The meeting adjourned at Noon.
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