New Health care provider may increase rates
   The Staff Senate focused on health care at its weekly meeting Wednesday.
Guest speaker Forest C. Benedict, vice president of Human Resource Management, made committee members aware of possible changes in the University’s health care benefits for employees.
Benedict said there is a 50 percent chance that rates will increase, but he feels very confident in the new provider the University is considering.
Committee members expressed their fears of changing benefits they have had for years to using Definity Health, a provider that is fairly new to the industry.
The proposed Personal Care Account with Definity Health will allow each employee $1,000 to spend on health care. If a person’s medical bill is $100, that amount is subtracted from the employee’s account. However, if the money in the PCA is not used, the balance will roll over into a reserve and be added to the employee’s next distribution of benefits.
“This is different from having a co-payment plan where you might pay $15 when you visit a doctor,” said Benedict, “the new plan will save money since 70 percent of employees never use their medical benefits.”
The PCA will allow those who don’t use the money the opportunity to build their funds each year. For instance, if the money is not used in three years that employee will have gained $3,000.
Alessica Duplessis