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Health Insurance Task Force Meeting <br />September 21, 2005 <br />Present were Chairman Ben Tafoya, Task Force members Don Green, Carl McFadden, <br />Chuck Robinson, Pat Iapicca, and Kathleen Golini. Also present were Town Manager <br />Peter Hechenbleikner, Assistant Town Manager/Finance Director Bob LeLacheur, <br />Human Resources Administrator Carol Roberts, members of the Health Insurance <br />Advisory Committee Darlene Porter and Arthur Vars, and from MIIA, Al Jones, Sandra <br />Fiumefreddo and Wendy Gammons. <br />Ben Tafoya explained how the Task Force was formed and then asked the MIIA <br />representatives to explain what MIIA offered to the Town. <br />Al Jones explained that MIIA is a joint purchasing trust with a risk financing mechanism. <br />The risk belongs to all members of the trust. There are 105 members and over 25,000 <br />subscribers. The government (Medicare, Medicaid) pays over half of health insurance <br />claims. Blue Cross Blue Shield pays 90% of health insurance claims within three months. <br />Claims above $50,000 are pooled within the MIIA Trust. MIIA has reinsurance for large <br />losses; a big umbrella policy on the whole pool (inexpensive) and a specific policy on <br />individual claims over $50,000 (expensive). Tax is levied on all claims to pay for the <br />"free care" pool. 88-92% of premiums collected go to providers to pay health insurance <br />claims. Medical trends for HMO this year are 15%. For its members MIIA sends all <br />enrollments and changes for subscribers to Blue Cross, orders cards, reconciles the billing <br />with Blue Cross, and on difficult claims will be an advocate for the subscriber. MIIA <br />administrative costs are 34% lower than Blue Cross Blue Shield. Wendy Gammon <br />discussed the wellness programs that are offered through MIIA and the ones that Reading <br />has offered to its employees. <br />Discussion followed about how the real issue is which health insurance company <br />manages its claims the best and has the most cost-effective contracts with providers. Don <br />Green disagreed with the idea that wellness programs will reduce claims in the long run. <br />The next meeting will be October 6, 2005 at 7:30 p.m. <br />Respectfully, <br />Secretary <br />