Joint Healthcare Committee May 17, 2013
Audio/Video conference
The agenda and attachments for the meeting are available at
The Committee met by audio/video conference on May 17. There were 13 members present. Also present were Erika Van Flein, David Hinckley and Timothy Armbruster.
The agenda for the meeting was approved as amended. The amendment was to add Global Care after the 300K wellness incentive item.
The meeting notes from April 19 were approved.
RFP update
The Wellness RFP was re-released due to not being distributed as widely as desired. Some modifications to the RFP were also done to clarify the program. The goal is to award by July 1, with services taking effect October 1. The WIN contract would be extended until the new contract started, but some items, such as IHPs would not begin until after the new contract to ensure continuity.
Open Enrollment update - Development/Appreciation days
Open enrollment went really well this year. Information sessions were held at each campus. Data is being entered now into the system. Online registration is dependent upon a Banner upgrade. Enterable forms to be printed later may be available next year. Benefit Focus does online enrollment and is now integrated with Premera, which may be an option in the future. There will be an update on the plan shifts at the next JHCC meeting.
UAA and UAF Staff Development / Appreciation Days
It would be nice if campuses could hold their development/appreciation days earlier in open enrollment or after open enrollment has ended. HR offices have been closed during the development/appreciation days and when they are held on the last or next to last day of open enrollment it causes problems for people who are trying to get assistance with their forms.
Premera Travel Benefit
The Premera travel benefit will allow a patient and a companion to travel to an approved facility. A list of approved procedures will be posted on the website. This benefit was added to the plan with no additional cost. An announcement of this benefit will be released after Memorial Day.
Premera received all the files needed to transfer the pharmacy benefit.
Premera.com has a limited pricing list of procedures and is working on getting it updated and expanded. Cost transparency is a hot topic at this time. The travel benefit has had an impact on providers as some of them are talking to Premera about being in network.
Premera may entertain adding procedures in the future, but will stick to only those on the list at this time. The procedures listed are non-emergent and the costs are high for the procedures in Alaska.
UA Salary Band Data
Salary band data was distributed and is a snapshot for January through June and is separated by e-classes. There were requests for more information on definition of e-classes and the percent of full-time/part-time positions. Items to consider are 9 month or 12 month salary, faculty summer overload and other out of the ordinary temporary salary inflations. There are a lot of questions about implementation that would need to be discussed to see if it is feasible. Salary differential will be discussed at a future JHCC meeting. Implementation of salary bands may be in conflict with the CBAs.
300K Wellness Incentive Fund
The CBAs were distributed with regard to this benefit. The CBAs do not specify the funds need to be spent. The funds can be used to off-set costs/employee contributions. This will be discussed during further negotiations, 6070 is in current negotiations and really can’t discuss it at this time. There was no objection to continue the status quo until after CBAs have completed their next round of bargaining. The status quo is to not fund any incentive at this time.
A motion was made:
The JHCC will not use the 300K wellness incentive to fund new wellness incentives this fiscal year, and language saying the JHCC is thinking about funding them will be removed from the website.
Discussion on whether there needed to be a motion or not was held.
The motion failed.
A motion is not necessary to remove language on the 300K wellness from the website. No committee member objected to removing the language, so it will be removed.
Global Care
Global Care was introduced. They specialize on reducing costs for out of network expenses. Alaska providers who are out of network may not be interested in this. The program would work best outside of Alaska. It also works with price and transparency, but UA is already looking at an RFP for a price and transparency vendor. International travel is also provided, but Premera offers BlueCard Worldwide that handles this for us already. GeoBlue is another option to look at. We need to look at out of network costs in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and in rural areas to see if they are significant. We can also look at out of state out of network costs.The topic will be addressed again at a future JHCC meeting when David Hinckley from Lockton has data to present on our plan’s out of network expenses.
The meeting adjourned at 11:17am
The next meetings are:
June 21 – regular audio/video meeting
July 19 – regular audio/video meeting
August 16 – regular audio/video meeting
All meetings will begin at 10:00 and end at noon.
Respectfully submitted by your JHCC representatives.