Janesville School District health plan issue defused
JANESVILLE — Controversy over the Janesville School District's process for choosing new employee health plans appears to have blown over.
Insurance consultant Bill Boyd presented new information to the school board at its meeting Tuesday night, and board members appeared satisfied.
Boyd passed out information from requests for proposals from Dean and Mercy Health System and suggested an HMO option could be added to the two other plans already discussed with employee groups.
An HMO would have more limits on the selection of providers than employees would have with the other plans, Boyd said.
Boyd said he would be able to present the net costs of various plans at the board's Oct. 23 meeting.
The board is looking to replace the current health plan, which is required by union contracts. Those contracts will expire June 30, 2013, and new state law allows the board to impose higher premium costs on employees without negotiations.
At a previous meeting, board member Kevin Murray in particular had asked why the district wasn't looking for ways to save money on the new health offerings, other than increasing employee premium payments.
Murray and others also said they wanted to see side-by-side cost comparisons.
Boyd said after Tuesday's meeting that he has been pursuing potential savings for months.
It appears that at least some board members were not aware of what Boyd's process had been for preparing plan options.
Murray said after the meeting that he was satisfied, especially at the prospect of seeing estimates of the costs of various health plan options.
Board member Dave DiStefano, who also had voiced concern, said he, too, was satisfied.
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Oct 11, 2012 at 7:02 p.m.
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Why not have a good universal healthcare plan and knock out the insurance companies altogether? Imagine the money we can save.
Oct 11, 2012 at 6:44 p.m.
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Wislady. SDJ employees have approx $15,000 taken off the top of their salary/benefits package that goes towards the self funded insurance. They then pay premiums, co pay and a deductible. At the end of the hear they get nothing back if they have under claimed. That money that should be theirs goes into the fund 10. That is why the fund 10 keeps growing. Teachers claiming less than put in each year. But now the board wants more from them.
Oct 11, 2012 at 10:01 a.m.
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This is the harsh reality of health insurance today. The company I work for got their renewal notice from Humana with a 32% premium cost increase. The coverage was already pretty crappy. The company my husband works for is VERY large and still had to increase premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket maximums. To stay on the Anthem/BCBS PPO plan we're currently on would mean going from paying $237 a month this year to $430 a month next year. Obviously we'll be switching to the other plan being offered. Who can afford that? Of course even the lower monthly premium won't help us with the $4k deductible and the $8k out of pocket max. The government's decision to reduce the max amount you can put in your flex account from $4500 this year to $2500 next year is just kicking us while we're down. And here I thought giving birth was going to be the scariest thing about being pregnant. We may as well have not planned it and just gotten accidentally knocked up with no safety net because with the changes being made that is the position that typically financially stable dual income households are being put in. We are very quickly moving towards a society in which medical bills bankrupt everyone. We're all going to be paying a fortune in health insurance premiums while having our incomes garnished for the bills we can't afford to pay even though we have insurance. I don't know what the solution is, but there has to be one. It can't go on like this.
Oct 11, 2012 at 2:10 a.m.
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I'd like to know what percentage does a teacher pay towards their health insurance in the Janesville School District? If someone would kindly tell me, I'd appreciate it. I want to compare it to what I must pay.
Oct 10, 2012 at 9:55 p.m.
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Wow whatta concept! Look for ways to lower health care costs, instead of just passing on increases to employees...
Congrats!
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