06-07-07 Chapter 172 Employee Retiree Insurance and Benefits Board Meeting

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Answer Neal Welch: We certainly can look at that! We are essentially able to make that decision. However, in Humana's case we were not. But in many cases we make that decision, do we want it to be two months, do we want it to be two and a half month? That is our call because it is just a "cost sharing arraignment" between the plan and the employee/retiree. In the case of Humana, when we brought the Smart Suite of four programs we didn't have a choice. You are absolutely right! I think that is an excellent point and it is something we should look at. Comments Kathy Clark: We did receive a proposal from Humana on this RFP. With regards to Life Insurance and Accidental Death and Dismemberment were able to cut the rate 3 cents below the rate we were paying. That guarantee rate was up April 1, 2007. We were able to secure a carrier that would not increase our rates on the next renewal because they are a financially sound company. The company selected was ING. We actually missed the 4-1 effective date so we stayed with Lafayette Life through the end of April and Council approved the contract with a 5-1-07 effective date. Therefore, the rate changed effective 5-01-07. Neal Welch Comments about Stop Loss Insurance: We made a recommendation to Council on the Stop Loss Insurance that was approved. However, ten (10) days before the anniversary date of the plan the company was down- graded from stable to unstable. We had to go back to the table using the same RFP and re-negotiate the Stop Loss with another company, which made us move the Life Insurance at the same time. The Stop Loss and the Life Insurance was bundled together. If the insurance was down graded from an A- to a B we would have had to go out to bid anyway. Because we have a rate guarantee for three years we will not have to put out an RFP for the Life Insurance for three years. Administrative Report Robert Swanagan, Human Resources Staff As you can all see we had a lot of information to cover. However, we wanted to make sure you were current on all of the insurance related issues. Also, we want to make sure at the other meeting we inform all active employees and retirees of our meeting dates and time. This way they can attend our Chapter 172 Meetings to observe the process and contact their respective representatives with questions, concerns and issues.