Agenda - 10-03-2006-5e - Laserfiche WebLink

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N O R T H C A R O L I N .ASSOCIATION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONS August 10, 2006 Mr. John M. Link, Jr. County Manager Orange County Government P.O. Box 8181 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 RE: Issues Related to Transition to CIGNA Healthcare Dear John: ~' i ~ t'i L~ ~'21'~ i ~' ~a `:-~ ,_~ r '~ . ~~'~. ' 4 2006 ;~ ~..e i.:; a :... -~......i L....~ The NC Association of County Commissioners appreciates the chance to offer feedback about the issues that you and the employees of Orange County are experiencing as a result of the NCACC transition. I have met with my staff with regard to your concerns and have addressed each item individually below. We recognize that a transition can bring positive and negative attributes to members and their employees. The NCACC expects to provide value to members participating in the County Health Plan. Some of these.values include greater information through reports generated from our data mining tool for management to understand how the group is performing. Recognizing that our members have interest in wellness programs, the NCACC offers employees free access to health risk assessments that can supplement the existing wellness initiatives Orange County has in place. As a companion to the health risk assessments, employees have access to programs working with entire groups of employees diagnosed with diabetes, asthma, lower back pain, heart disease, and COPD rather than waiting for the employee to join a program. Last year, Orange County was a recipient of a Safety and Wellness Grant from the NCACC that assisted with bringing on-site wellness programs to employees. The NCACC expects to offer members access to providers not only participating in the Cigna network but also through CAPE as a network unique for our members. IrI contrast to the enhancements offered to members, we recognize that transition can also bring surprises. . As the NCACC monitors the transition, we fmd that member education about enhancements or changes is critical to support the staff who are fielding employee comments. Given the magnitude of the group benefits transition, we'expected to experience some issues and made preparations to overcome these issues. With a July 1 start date, the NCACC secured an 800 number should employees have problems accessing care over the July 4 holiday weekend. When employees had trouble getting prescriptions filled, the NCACC worked with Caremark to wage an educational campaign targeted to the pharmacists. As the first thirty days comes to a close,'our field and customer service staff has noticed a decline in many of the issues members communicated to us. NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCL0.TION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ALBERT COATES LOCAL GOVERNMENT CENTER SERVING COUNTIES SINCE 7908 215 NORTH DAWSON STREET, RALEIGH, NC 27603 P.O. Box 1488, RALEIGH, NC 27602-1488 phone 919.715.2893 fax 919.733.1065 www.ncacc.org