Vienna discusses insurance options
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VIENNA -- Vienna Budget and Finance Committee members, department heads and Vienna City Council members all met with Mark Schwendeman, the city insurance broker, at the Budget and Finance Meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the city insurance options.
The city insurance has been a very debated topic at council meetings in past weeks.
The process in the past as described by Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp and Schwendeman is that the Insurance Committee, which was comprised of the mayor, representatives from all the city departments and the finance director, chose the insurance plan that is recommended by the broker.
The cost is then submitted in the city budget as one of the last items.
Council members Mike Elam and Roger Conley have expressed their concerns with this system, and as a way to fix the concerns, Rapp announced March 1 that the Budget and Finance Committee would be taking over the insurance selection process.
The Schwendeman Agency surveyed six carriers for the health insurance renewal, which will go into effect July 1.
"Of those six carriers four provided proposals and two declined to provide a proposal due to uncompetitive rates," Schwendeman said.
He provided information about the offered proposals:
∫ Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the incumbent insurance provider, offered a renewal rate of five percent lower from last year's rates.
∫ Aetna declined to provide a proposal due to uncompetitive rates.
∫ Benecon declined to provide a proposal due to uncompetitive rates.
∫ Cigna quoted similar plan designs to those of Highmark.
∫ The Health Plan quoted a rate of 36.63 percent higher than the current in-force rates.
∫ United Healthcare provided a proposal for a non-similar plan design at 63 percent over current rates.
There were four alternative plans submitted by Highmark and very similar plans submitted by Cigna.
"While Cigna's plan costs $1,314.097.44 and Highmark's is $1351,774.32, a significant item that Highmark offers and Cigna does not is the Air Ambulance benefit, which provides for an air ambulance service to be paid at an in-network level, regardless of whether or not the air ambulance provider is in network," Schwendeman said.
Schwendeman said that his suggested opinion was to go with Highmark's offer with the same construct as last year, and the provided offers were submitted to the Vienna City Council for further consideration.