Board of Aldermen 3-31-2020 Page 10
treatments, are you aware of any stimulus packages that might provide relief for COVID-19 related medical
treatment?
Larry Budreau, Human Resources Director
No | am not Alderman Lopez. | do know that a couple of Emergency Legislation Acts in both the State and the
Federal Government have actually imposed some mandates that insurance plans provide cost without copay
for COVID 19 testing and initial evaluation appointments. But | have not seen any indication that anyone is
going to help reimburse us for those.
Alderman Lopez
OK well we know an answer | would have liked to hear.
Alderwoman Kelly
Did Linda want to speak? | didn’t want to take her turn; | know she maybe said something but she’s not on
video.
President Wilshire
I'll recognizes her after you speak, thank you.
Alderwoman Kelly
OK just making sure. So | had a question if | could ask potentially for Ms. Kleiner or Mr. Budreau. My
question is around employees in education, it seems like you guys have a done a great job or holding a
number of meetings, but | am wondering if for the record, you could talk a little bit about maybe some of the
most frequently asked questions in terms of switching plan. | know that we also as a family just switched to
the high deductible plan and | personally had a lot of questions. So if they could answer that would be great.
Larry Budreau, Human Resources Director
OK thanks, Ms. Kleiner and | can’t see each other to give cues. Well actually the biggest question that we’ve
heard in Nashua, the number one question that we are seeking to resolve, was because the contribution of
$3,000.00 to the $4,000.00 deductible had not been codified anywhere, people repeatedly asked, “this plan
sounds great, but what assurance do we have that the City won’t change that”. And that actually was the
biggest questions.
There were other questions as to how it works and, in all honesty, it is more of a hassle than having an HMO
Plan. In fact that’s the reason that some people may choose to pay more for health insurance as we go
forward because no EOB’s, $20.00 when you go to the doctor and this does require getting an EOB, taking a
look at how much the insurer paid and then paying the balance bill during the first $4,000.00 if you are a
family. So questions about mechanics and questions about assurance that the City would continue to foot
the $3,000.00 are the two that come to mind the most.
Kim Kleiner, Admin. Services Director
President Wilshire if | could add to that? So many of our employees have questions surrounding the actual
mechanics of it. So like Director Budreau said, it actually it requires you to do a little finance sort to speak and
to investigate those health claim costs. You actually watch and make payments on things that you are not
normally used to making if you’ve been a part of an HMO. Several years ago, the private company that |
worked for instituted the health savings account and a few of us were trained on it so that we could help other
employees walk through that process.
