Board of Aldermen 3-31-2020 Page 17
President Wilshire
Yes.
Alderman Jette
OK good. So | understand, you know, we’ve been told for some time about the increase and the rise in
healthcare cost and how that is so difficult for the City to deal with in light of the fact that there are so many
other pressures being put on the City like the State Government is doing less and less to support us. But |
think this comes at a difficult time. | am thinking about our employees and from what I’ve heard this evening is
that the high deductible health plan is not being changed at all and it is something as attractive as itis, is an
option for employees to choose even without this Legislation. What this Legislation does is increase the
deductibles for the HMO Plan and so you know, | saw the chart that was part of the PowerPoint Presentation
and it showed how much greater the healthcare costs for the people in the HMO is or are and how that when
you divide it by the number of employees there, it is the higher average per employee. But! wonder if that’s a
reflection on the fact that the employees that have chosen the HMO have done so for whatever reasons,
probably because they see it as initially cheaper for them. But they could, in fact, be people with greater need
for healthcare and that if we move them into the high deductible plan, their cost will continue to be higher than
others and it will just increase the cost of what we are paying for health care for the people in the high
deductible health plan. | am just wondering, you know, are we just pushing those high claimants, the people
with the higher claims into a different group?
| also am concerned about the employees that are going to be affected by this, not probably in this first wave
but as we try to implement this with the other employee groups, the Unions, that are represented by Unions.
You know we are talking about people who are on the front lines and what this Coronavirus crisis that we are
facing, | am wondering are they more at risk and | wonder about people in the high deductible health plan
when they go to the doctor now, that $3,000.00 that’s in their health savings account and the $1,000.00 that
they are going to have to pay eventually, that initial $4,000.00 that they have to pay before the City takes
over, are they going to regard that really as their money and be more reluctant to seek health care. And with
this Coronavirus Crisis, the longer they wait if they need health care, the longer they wait to get healthcare,
the more expensive it is going to be. And | am just wondering what your comments are in that regard and
what our consultant or whether our consultant has weighed in on that issue?
President Wilshire
Director Budreau or Director Kleiner?
Kim Kleiner, Admin. Services Director
So I'll start off, President Wilshire and then Director Budreau can fill in any piece I’ve left out. We do
understand with COVID-19 Virus this is uncharted territory. We don’t know what that will do to claims, we
don’t know, we certainly encourage all of our employees, no matter what health plan you are on to seek
healthcare. That is one of the reasons we have waived those costs for the telehealth, cost for Sidney for the
Sidney App you can get a virtual call with a doctor and they can point you into the right direction; the cost for
that evaluation is waived as is the cost of testing. But | don’t think realistically that we are going to give much
information on what we expect to happen with claims as related to the current crisis.
Having said that, with the HSA if you are a family, the most you are going to pay out-of-pocket is that
$1,000.00. Now studies do not show that people have refrained from getting healthcare in order to save that
money. Studies realistically, time after time show that people become better educated consumers. You
know we used to say it is like having some skin in the game; yes it is their money and they'd like to keep it
and they’d like not to have to pay it so they are going to use some education and make some realistic
decisions in how that money is spent. And that has been what industry studies have shown over time. I'll
give it to Director Budreau.
