|
By Larry B. Dendy
ldendy@uga.edu
The switch to new health-insurance and prescription plans on Jan. 1 occurred with only a few minor problems for staff and faculty members, though nearly half the university’s employees and retirees chose not to adopt any of the new—and less costly—options.
David Williamson, director of employee benefits in the Human Resources Division, says his staff responded to an initial flurry of questions in early January from employees who were confused about receiving two or three insurance cards, and from a few who had received the wrong cards. Those problems have been corrected, and most people seem to be adjusting as they become more familiar with their plans, Williamson says.
Current and retired employees of UGA and all other schools in the University System of Georgia were required this past fall to choose a plan for health-insurance coverage and pharmacy benefits from among several options that are designed to provide health coverage at lower costs through pooled resources. The options are mandated by the University System and the state Department of Community Health as part of an effort to overcome a multi-million dollar deficit in the insurance plan that had been in place for several years, known as the indemnity plan.
UGA employees and retirees could stay with the indemnity plan, administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield, or choose one of four other options: a preferred provider organization (PPO), a PPO consumer-choice plan, a Blue Choice health maintenance organization (HMO) and an HMO consumer choice plan.
The PPO and HMO plans generally have lower monthly premiums than the indemnity plan, but don’t include some services or benefits in the indemnity plan.
In addition, employees and retirees were moved to a new pharmacy-benefits program that requires co-payments, which vary with the type of prescription.
Williamson says preliminary figures show about 53 percent of employees and retirees elected either the PPO or HMO options. These initial totals indicate that 4,727 people (43.5 percent) chose the PPO, and 1,027 (9.4 percent) chose the HMO.
A total of 5,130 people (47.1 percent) decided to stay with the indemnity plan, and 206 people canceled insurance coverage through UGA.
For the entire University System, about 43 percent of employees moved from the indemnity plan to one of the new options. State officials had estimated that a 70 percent switch to the PPO could result in savings as high as $70 million over three years.
All UGA employees and retirees received a new identification card indicating which insurance plan they chose and another card for indemnity and PPO prescription purchases. In addition, those who chose the PPO or HMO received a separate card for dental coverage.
Williamson says the main problems at UGA were that some people erroneously received the wrong cards, and some didn’t understand about choosing either generic, preferred or non-preferred drugs under the prescription plan. Also, some people were confused by receiving two or three cards when they have needed only one in the past.
Andy Brantley, associate vice president for human resources, apologized for the problems in an e-mail message to the UGA staff e-mail discussion list. “The benefits staff worked diligently to try to ensure that all employee information was entered into the system as quickly and as error-free as possible,” Brantley said. “With over 15,000 benefits eligible employees and retirees, the process of entering data and sorting the enrollment forms has been enormous.”
Williamson and Brantley urge anyone with questions or concerns to call the employee-benefits department for help.
To help employees better understand how best to use their chosen health plan and the new prescription-drug coverage, a series of informational meetings will be held Feb. 12, 13, 19 and 20 in Mahler Auditorium in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Representatives of the Georgia Department of Community Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Express Scripts will be present to answer questions. |
|
