Agenda - 10-16-2012 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 1 they would have seen the same prescription increases. He said that the County has not heard 2 from employees who were positively impacted but only those that were negatively impacted. 3 He said that going to Cigna would have caused a prescription tier interruption. If there is 4 another move, there would be more disruption in the tiers for the employees. 5 Commissioner Jacobs said that he read the employee feedback on page 4 of 14 of the 6 survey and said that this is different than what Mark Browder is saying. He said that there is 7 more involved than just cost. He would like to see if there are other alternatives in January. He 8 said that it seems like service is an issue, regardless of tier disruption. He said that United 9 Healthcare is notorious for bad service. He would like to have a plan to be broader in the 10 examination. 11 Commissioner Jacobs said that he attended a session at NACo about healthcare and it 12 seems that Orange County is not aggressive enough in promoting wellness, which would drive 13 down claims and costs. 14 Commissioner Jacobs clarified that the renewal increase is less than budgeted. He 15 asked if this could be applied to employee benefits. He would like to have this come back as an 16 option. 17 Mark Browder said that one of the ways to apply money is to have money available to 18 fund wellness programs. 19 Nicole Clark said that wellness is one of the areas they hope to use with the focus 20 groups and get feedback from the employees. 21 Commissioner Hemminger asked about the cost of a typical bariatric surgery and Mark 22 Browder said that without complications it is $30,000+, but with complications, it can run up to 23 $300,000. It is a serious surgery. 24 Mark Browder said that healthcare reform does not give the flexibility as they have had 25 before. He said that he needs a decision from the Board of County Commissioners no later 26 than early October to keep the County compliant with the law. 27 Nicole Clark said that one change is for the flexible spending accounts. The cap will be 28 decreased from $5,000 to $2,500 next year. Dependent care is still $5,000. 29 Commissioner Hemminger asked if the survey was given to retirees also. 30 Nicole Clark said that the survey was for active employees only and there were no 31 comments from retirees. There was feedback from retirees in the beginning with the new 32 program last year. 33 Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there was anything the County Commissioners could do 34 to make sure the employees get better service from United Healthcare. 35 Diane Shepherd said that the employees can let Human Resources know if there are 36 problems with the UHC service. 37 Nicole Clark said that staff will be meeting with the account managers on a regular basis 38 with regard to service delivery. 39 Commissioner Jacobs asked if UHC could communicate this directly to employees it 40 would be better. He would like for UHC to be willing to come and do a Q&A with the 41 employees. 42 Commissioner Gordon asked what the retirees have said. 43 Diane Shepherd said that she is in constant communication with the retirees and she 44 also meets with them individually during open enrollments. There are periodic mailings to 45 retirees. There is also a listserv for retirees. 46 Commissioner Jacobs said that during budget time this is out of sequence for 47 healthcare since it is on a calendar basis and not a fiscal year basis. He asked if there was any 48 way to get a plan for a year and a half to make it better coordinated with the other financials of 49 the County. 50 Clarence Grier said that this has been discussed, but the timing has been the issue.