TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF DECEMBER 3, 2015
COMMITTEE ON PENSION, HUMAN RESOURCES AND CIVIL SERVICE
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Authority to amend health care benefits for pre-65 and Medicare-eligible retirees to increase emergency room co-payment for the HMO plan to $100.00 consistent with active employees
Body
Dear Sir:
At the Board meeting on October 15, 2015, the Board of Commissioners approved several changes to the plan design for retiree benefits to make them consistent with the benefits offered to active employees. These changes included a decrease in the co-insurance under the PPO plan, an increase in the deductible for the PPO plan and the creation of a fourth tier for specialty drugs under the prescription drug coverage. There is one additional change to the emergency room co-pay for the HMO plan necessary to align the retiree benefits with those of active employees. This change was inadvertently omitted from the request to amend retiree benefits approved by the Board of Commissioners on October 15, 2015.
The current emergency room co-pay for retirees enrolled in the HMO plan is $50.00. The co-pay helps ensure that members are utilizing these services for emergencies as intended and not for services that could be better provided by a primary care physician. This co-pay is refunded if the employee is admitted to the hospital as a result of the emergency room visit. The emergency room co-payment was increased to $100.00 for active employees effective January 1, 2015. This change was approved by the Board of Commissioners on December 18, 2014 for non-represented employees and was added to the benefits for represented employees as part of the collective bargaining agreements signed November 20, 2014.
Authorization is requested to increase the emergency room co-payment for the HMO plan to $100.00 for retirees to provide consistency between the benefits for active employees and retirees effective January 1, 2016.
Requested, Denice E. Korcal, Director of Human Resources
Respectfully Submitted, Mariyana T. Spyropoulos, Chairman, Committee on Pension, Human Resources & Civil Service
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for December 3, 2015