University makes changes to employee health care
By Bethel Habte | November 2, 2009The University administration has revised its health care plans for University employees in an attempt to stop arbitrary hikes in insurance premiums and maintain general financial stability. The new changes include additional cost sharing for both the high- and low-premium plans and increased premium levels for the high-premium plan only. An influx of new University health insurance users prompted the switch, noted both Anne Broccoli, University director of faculty and staff benefits for the Human Resources department, and Human Resources Communications Manager Alexandra Rebhorn. In an effort to increase cost sharing in both plans, brand-name prescription drugs are now part of an employee's co-insurance, not the co-pay, meaning that an employee will pay a percentage of the drug's costs with caps instead of a flat co-pay rate. Additionally, co-pays for both plans increased from $15 to $20 for primary service and from $30 to $40 for specialists. Though the University raised the premiums for the high-premium plan, the plan features less overall cost-sharing, through deductibles and co-insurance, at the point of service than the low-premium option. More than 91 percent of University employees who take part in the University's health care plans are enrolled in the high-premium plan.
