Peoria Standard

Woodford County Health Care Committee met June 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Call to Order. - Called to order at 3:00.

Roll Call, Melissa Andrews (ch), Doug Mullen, Lisa Jording, Derek Reinmann, Janet Gibbs, J. T. Gentes, Kent Hair, Chuck Nagel, and John Krug were all present. Dustin Schulz (vc) and Matt Noar were excused and Emily Barker was absent. County Clerk Dawn Kupfer was also in attendance and Jason Boothe of SRM attended via Zoom.

3. Approval of Minutes

a. Approval of March 11, 2020 Minutes

Motion to approve the March 11, 2020 minutes as submitted made by Chuck Nagel, seconded by Doug Mullen. Motion to approve as submitted carried.

4. Public Input - None 

5. Report of Fund Balances

Premium & Claims Reserve Fund: $ 660,279.61

Health Care Plan Fund: $ 58,341.17

Total of Funds as of June 10th; $ 718,620.78

Deposit 1st Payroll of the month on June 11th: $ 100.286.27

Total of Funds as of June 11th: $818,907.05

6. Appointments

a. Appointment of Cayla Comens (representing FOP Probation to the Health Care Committee as an alternate for a three year term expiring the 1st Monday in December, 2022.

Motion for the appointment of Cayla Comens as alternate for FOP Probation made by Lisa Jording, seconded by Janet Gibbs. Motion carried and will be forwarded to the full County Board.

7. Old Business - None 

8. New Business

a. Discussion and possible recommendation of the STOP Tobacco Cessation Program offered by TRIA Health ($300 per engaged member per year for Track 1).

Our Health Care Plan already covers 100% of Tobacco Cessation prescriptions. Jason will see if we can get fliers from MedTrak to distribute to our employees to promote stopping tobacco use,

b. Discussion and possible recommendation of the Choose to Lose Weight Loss Program offered by TRIA Health (a one-time fee of $325 per engaged member per year and a monthly fee of $35 per engaged member).

There would be value in promoting weight loss programs. Diabetes and weight related illnesses can be a cause of a lot of health care spending so participating in this wouldn't be a bad idea. Diabetes mediations would be covered by our plan, however, weight loss medications or services would not be. We do have the option of cost sharing with the participant as the program is voluntary. If the participant invests in the program they may be more likely to stick with it. We want to explore this a little further so we will table for now and put this on our next agenda.

c. Discussion and recommendation of allowing claims for consultations by telephone, email, or online physicians retroactive to March 21, 2020 for a period to be determined (such as 90 or 120 days or until the end of Plan Year 2020 or permanently).

During the COVID-19 pandemnic, a participant of the Health Care Plan called her doctor to have her medication changed and was then charged for an office visit and the claim was denied by our plan, Several of SRM's groups have had this same issue. It would be reasonable to amend the plan to allow for these claims thru the end of our plan year or even permanently. Chuck Nagel made a motion to allow these claims to be treated as in-office visits retroactive to March 21, 2020 thru the end of the plan year 2020 and then re-evaluate. Motion was seconded by Kent Hair and was carried. We will forward this to the full County Board for approval.

d. Discussion and consideration of amending the plan to allow broader coverage for hearing related services and supplies effective Plan Year 2021.

Participants of the plan have asked about hearing aid coverage which is currently not covered by our plan, which is not uncommon, Illinois recently mandated that fully insured plans cover hearing aids for individuals 65 or older and children providing coverage for up to $2,500 per hearing aid per 24 month period. Self-insured plans such as ours are not subject to these mandates. We can decide to amend the plan with the new plan year, otherwise we have to give a 60 day notice to participants of any plan changes mid-year. Having a separate plan for hearing coverage is not a viable option, It is better to spread these costs out over a larger group. Jason will provide some examples of coverage options to help us decide. We will leave this on the agenda to revisit during discussions of setting contribution rates later this year.

9. Other

a. County Board Action Follow-up (Monthly item)

There were no items forwarded to the County Board in March 2020 and no meetings in April or May.

b. Monthly Update/Quarterly Report from Snedeker's 

Snedeker's office provided the 2020 Plan Performance Report thru May 31, 2020 along with recent years for comparison. There is a net loss of $51,965.64 thru the end of May. A net negative performance for the 2020 plan year is expected as a result of the increase in stop-loss premiums, We may need to consider contribution rate increases that are a bit higher than the low 2-4% range we've had in recent years. Our enrollment has increased over the years but average cost per employee has remained fairly stable over the years. Our plan was doing well when we set the contribution rates last year and only increased by 2% on most plans.

10. Executive Session (if necessary) - None 

11. Any Action Coming Out of Executive Session - None

12. Announce Next Meeting Date

Next meeting will be July 15, 2020 

13. Adjournment

Motion to adjourn at 3:48 made by Lisa Jording, seconded by J.T. Gentes. Motion carried.

https://www.woodford-county.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_06102020-1065