Rockford School District pushes new health plan for teachers
ROCKFORD — The Rockford School District is asking its teachers union to consider a plan that could reel in the district’s skyrocketing health care costs.
Teachers are working under a labor contract that expired June 30, and both sides are negotiating. Among the terms of the district’s most recent offer are higher monthly health insurance premiums and deductibles.
There is, however, a potentially less costly insurance option to Rockford Education Association members: a health savings account plan that carries a higher deductible but no premium.
The teachers union has successfully bargained for lower health insurance premiums in lieu of higher wage hikes over the years. Those agreements, however, left the district with the burden of rising health care costs. The district’s health care spending grew about 12 percent in the last fiscal year to $50.5 million — nearly double what the district spent a decade ago.
“There’s absolutely no incentive for those employees” to control their medical expenses, School Board member Tim Rollins said.
Controlling costs A health savings account is one way the district hopes to control its health insurance costs. The plan would give employees an incentive to be more mindful of their medical expenses because it puts them in control of what they spend.
Health savings accounts work like personal savings accounts. The money deducted from your paycheck is not taxed and can only be used for health care expenses. You — not your employer or insurance company — own and control the money in the account, which rolls over year to year if not used.
Proponents believe HSAs can reduce the growth of costs and increase the efficiency of the health care system. Opponents say HSAs may worsen health care because people who are healthy will leave insurance plans, thus making those plans more costly for others while people with HSAs may decline necessary medical tests or treatments because of their high deductible.
Health Insurance Washington Hsa - News
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You — not your employer or insurance company — own and control the money in the account, which rolls over year to year if not used. Proponents believe HSAs can reduce the growth of costs and increase the efficiency of the health care system.
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Granville Village is looking at alternatives for reducing what it pays for health insurance for its employees after the cost of renewing its policy went up 17.5 percent this year. Granville is one of nine jurisdictions that belong to Central Ohio
By Allison Bell The health savings account (HSA) community is trying to persuade the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make the final minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) regulations friendlier to HSA-compatible health insurance plans.
PressRSS: Milliman Study Highlights the Impact of Medical Loss ...
MILLIMAN STUDY HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPACT OF
MEDICAL LOSS RATIO RULES ON HSAs
WASHINGTON A new report by Milliman Inc. says that high-deductible health plans, including those with health savings accounts (HSAs), will likely be more adversely impacted by the medical loss ratio requirements under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) than other types of comprehensive medical plans.
The American Bankers Associations HSA Council engaged Milliman Inc. to analyze the current medical loss ratio rules issued under the act. The councils subsequent analysis of Millimans report titled, Impact of Medical Loss Ratio Requirements Under PPACA on High Deductible Plans/HSAs in Individual and Small Group Markets, revealed that consumers who rely on HSA-qualified plans to finance their health care may experience greater costs in their current health plans and may eventually have to find more expensive replacement coverage.
HSAs were widely anticipated to be the low-cost bronze plans for consumers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, said Kevin McKechnie, executive director of ABAs HSA Council. The medical loss ratio requirements make this very difficult and the requirements with respect to HSAs need to be adjusted, as we have repeatedly advised Health and Human Services. We urge the U.S. Senate and the White House to prevail upon HHS to revise this rule to prevent politically difficult, unintended consequences.
The primary issues of concern for high-deductible plans are that:
The medical loss ratio formula doesnt take into account contributions to HSAs . Many high deductible health plans are accompanied by an HSA, which covers much of the first-dollar costs before the plans deductible is reached. HSA contributions are currently not reflected in the medical loss ratio calculations.