Officials discuss changes to staff health insurance
Possible changes to Utah State University employee healthcare services will save thousands of dollars and increase the quality of the program without raising premiums, the health care director said.
Clark England, senior benefit specialist doing analysis of the medical and dental program, said the health care for faculty and staff needs to be changed, although the university has a good healthcare package.
The cost of healthcare increases much more rapidly than the cost of living does, England said. The program does not receive funding for the changes, which means Human Resources needs to find creative ways to ensure the same quality in benefits without raising the cost, England said.
“Our objective is to keep the quality of the program as close to the same level as we can without hurting the employees,” England said. “But yet we still have to pay for the program, that’s where the challenge comes.”
Renee Payne, director of university marketing, said the net objective is to keep costs at a minimum and to increase the quality of service.
England said the two main objectives the Human Resource Office has are to have the healthiest employees possible and secondly, if employees do need health care, then the university will provide the highest quality available.
Making the program more efficient without impacting the quality is the main objective of the project, said England, who has served as director for Human Resources for the past 23 years. The changes for next year have been decided and recommended to President Kermit L. Hall, but have not been approved as of yet. However, the president has said there will be no increase in premiums for employees, England said.
One change that is recommended by Human Resources, England said, is to encourage faculty and staff to use generic prescription drugs versus brand-name drugs. Another focus is on educating employees to use over-the-counter medicine instead of prescription, England said.
Educating employees about wellness and being a better health care consumer is essential, England said. If there is a 10 percent shift from brand name to generic prescription usage then the university could save more than $100,000.
“[We want] to make people have a desire to be healthier so they won’t make as many claims against the plan,” England said.
England, who is two years from retirement, said the employees at USU are good consumers with the present plan, however the university does have a higher usage with brand-name prescriptions than the state average. Because the generics are less expensive, this is one way to save money in the plan without impacting quality.
“The Food and Drug Administration requires that the generic do the same thing the brand name does,” England said. “[The drug] has the same ingredients and has to perform the same way.”
To help the program, Payne said, the university is looking at eliminating redundancies in the current plan. This has contributed to not having to raise the premiums this year.
Currently, the employees like the healthcare program offered, England said. The overall opinion of faculty and staff is positive about the program.
“To keep the same quality in benefits, we are all having to pay more,” England said. “The institution has to pay more and the employees have to pay more. Obviously nobody’s happy about that, the employees aren’t and neither is the institution – that’s a fact of life.”
Frank Shuman, the academic undergraduate adviser for the School of Accountancy, said the university offers good healthcare benefits. Shuman said he supports the proposed changes in the healthcare plan.
“If it saves money, it will help us,” Shuman said. “If they could reduce any redundancies and make it a more compact program, I think that would be good.”
Shuman said he supports the change from brand-name prescription drugs to generic.
“I don’t think it really matters if it’s brand name or a no name,” Shuman said. “It’s all the same to me.”
The university’s healthcare program is overall better than the nation’s average, England said, on higher quality with lower costs.
No benefits will be dropped, England said, but some will be added with no increased cost in the plan. In the past, physical therapy coverage has excluded occupational therapy, England said, but next year the university is merging those two together with no increased costs.
England said every time there are changes made, there are several employees who are not happy, but generally most will receive the new program positively.
The Flex Spending Program allows people who have out-of-pocket expenses not covered by a health insurance plan to be covered tax free.
“It increases the take home pay and decreases taxes,” Payne said. “So there is an all-out effort from [Human Resources] to encourage people to sign up for the Flex spending program.”
The goal is to double the employee participation with the Flex Spending Program, Payne said. The program may not be for everyone, England said, but it is there to benefit people who do have out-of-pocket expenses.
Educating faculty and staff begins with mailing information directly to employee’s homes, England said, and also initiating face-to-face meetings with employees, using the Web page to provide resources and also using newspapers to create awareness.
-kcashton@cc.usu.edu