South Fulton moves employee health plan to Anthem; officials project $2 million annual savings

Council approved changes to the city's employee benefits on Sept. 9, moving active medical coverage from Cigna’s level‑funded product to an Anthem self‑funded arrangement, shifting dental and vision to Anthem, keeping life and disability with New York Life and moving voluntary supplemental benefits to Aflac.

Tammy Starkey, senior vice president at brokerage Alliant, told council the Anthem arrangement projects a gross annual cost of about $7.2 million compared with a negotiated Cigna renewal that would have cost about $9.2 million — a roughly $2 million difference. ‘‘With the Anthem proposal, the city will gain greater transparency into what’s driving cost,’’ Starkey said.

Anthem will place stop‑loss reinsurance with Tokyo Marine HCC to cap the city’s liability at $200,000 per member and an aggregate cap of 125% of expected claims, officials said. Anthem also agreed to remit 100% of pharmacy manufacturer rebates to the city’s plan (Alliant projected those rebates could exceed $2 million annually). Anthem representatives said they will assist with continuity of care during the carrier transition and provide digital tools and performance guarantees.

Mike Triplett, an Anthem consultant, described the carrier’s provider network and member resources, including the Sydney Health app and care‑management programs for chronic conditions and maternity.

Human Resources interim director Hope Blakely and Alliant presented an implementation timeline: open enrollment runs Sept. 15–19 with multiple on‑site and virtual sessions, electronic ID cards for members and transitional support for in‑progress care.

Council approved the benefits package as recommended in the consent agenda; the recorded vote on the consent item was unanimous.

City officials said there would be no change in employee cost shares for benefit tiers at plan start, no change to current life‑insurance employer contributions, and a limited change to vision plan details. The administration said employees will need to re‑enroll in flexible‑spending accounts, as required by IRS rules.

Next steps: HR and Alliant will complete the carrier implementation tasks and run employee education sessions during the Sept. 15–19 enrollment window.