Health care tab for 14,000 hinges on wellness plan
About 14,000 school and state employees will face higher health insurance premiums next year unless they complete the requirements of a wellness program by Nov. 1, the plans’ administrator told lawmakers on Wednesday.
To meet the program’s requirements, employees must visit a doctor and complete an online questionnaire meant to assess their health. Employees’ spouses who are covered by the plans must also complete the questionnaire.
Those who meet the requirements receive a discount of $75 per month on their health insurance premiums.
Bob Alexander, director of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration’s Employee Benefits Division, told members of the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Program Legislative Task Force that he expects most employees will meet the requirement to visit the doctor, but he is concerned that many will fail to fill out the questionnaire.
“We’ve tried everything we can think of,” Alexander said.
That includes posting information about the program on the Employee Benefits Division’s website, including the information in email alerts and newsletters and sending out two letters to employees who have yet to meet the requirements.
The State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Board voted Tuesday to send an additional notice to school districts and state
agencies reminding them about the requirement, Alexander said.
He said he also asked human resources personnel at state agencies and school districts to print lists of employees who have yet to visit the doctor or complete the questionnaire and remind them about the program.
“There is no intent by the board or by EBD to charge anyone $75” a month in higher premiums, Alexander said.
Instead, he said, the wellness program is designed to hold down health care costs by identifying employees with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, and ensure they receive the proper services.
The plans cover about 44,000 school employees and 26,500 state employees as well as retirees, and employees’ spouses and children. Legislators and other elected state officials are covered by the state employees’ plans.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, said filling out the questionnaire could be difficult for employees who lack computers or Internet access.
She said she called Chicago-based ComPsych, which administers the health assessment, to get a printed copy of the questionnaire and was told it would take three weeks to have it mailed to her.
“We’ve got to make sure that our folks have access,” Chesterfield said. “I don’t understand why it would take three weeks to get me a piece of paper.”
Alexander said his division can mail the questionnaire within a few days. Once a completed questionnaire is submitted, it may take a few weeks before the information is manually entered into a database, he said.
Chesterfield made a motion to request that the deadline for completing the questionnaire be extended, but no one seconded the motion.
Alexander said it would be difficult to extend the deadline. The division must submit information on teachers’ health insurance premiums for 2016 to school districts by mid-November, he said.
He said he has worked with state agencies and school districts to ensure employees have access to a computer. Those who are unable to complete the questionnaire because of special circumstances can file an appeal, he said.
Alexander said creating a wellness program was a recommendation by a consultant to the task force, which was formed by the Arkansas Legislature during a special session in 2013 to monitor the plans’ finances and help keep down premiums.
To receive the $75 discount this year, the first year it has been offered, employees were required to visit a doctor between Jan. 1, 2013, and Nov. 1, 2014.
Almost all employees who were eligible received the discount this year, Alexander said.
Also on Wednesday, task force members elected Sen. Eddie Cheatham, D-Crossett, as the panel’s chairman and Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, as vice chairman.
The previous chairman, Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, and vice chairman, Rep. Bill Gossage, R-Ozark, said in July that they wanted to step down from the task force to devote attention to other matters and allow people with new ideas to take charge.