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Pottawattamie County board moves to change employee assistance provider to BestCare EAP
Summary
The Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors voted to move forward with switching the county's employee assistance program from CHI EAP to BestCare EAP (Methodist), a change the board said should increase local access but will raise the county's annual cost. The move is subject to final contract approval.
Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors voted to proceed with changing the county's employee assistance program (EAP) provider from CHI EAP to BestCare EAP, the board decided at a regular meeting. The board approved moving forward subject to later review and formal approval of a contract.
The change is intended to give county employees easier local access to counseling services. Jana Lemerick, the county's director of human resources, told the board the county currently uses CHI for EAP and that CHI typically serves about eight people a month. "EAP is a fantastic service that provides our employees and their dependents free counseling services," Lemerick said, adding that the county wants to increase utilization by offering a local provider in Council Bluffs.
Lemerick presented a written proposal from BestCare EAP (operated through Methodist) and said the provider has local counselors at a Council Bluffs location associated with Jennie Edmundson Hospital. The proposal quoted a per-employee rate of $28.65 under the package Lemerick used for cost calculations. The county's current CHI rate is $19.42 per employee; using the county's most recent census of 494 employees, Lemerick estimated the annual difference at approximately $4,559.62.
Board members asked for additional details before final approval. Supervisors requested the prior two utilization reports from CHI and an example report from BestCare showing what the county would receive under HIPAA-compliant reporting. Lemerick said BestCare's proposal includes quarterly, HIPAA-compliant reporting on "total impact and engagement" and that the vendor would honor the quoted price for a limited time; the proposal stated rates are guaranteed for 90 days from the proposal date.
Board members also sought clarity on timing, head count and coverage. Lemerick confirmed the change would take effect July 1 if approved and that the county would provide its June head count to the vendor for billing. She said all county employees are eligible for EAP (including part-time employees) and that EAP visits are initially provided at no additional county cost; if a counselor determines a client needs longer-term care, that care would move to the employee's personal insurance.
On utilization, Lemerick provided a CHI utilization excerpt showing nine EAP users in a September-to-November reporting period and said overall annual usage figures were not available in the presentation. Board members emphasized they wanted the historical CHI reports and a sample BestCare report before signing a contract.
A board member moved to proceed with BestCare EAP "subject to us approving the contract," and the board approved the motion by voice vote. The meeting record shows the motion passed but does not include a roll-call tally; the board instructed staff to bring the contract back for legal review and formal approval.
Next steps: Lemerick will obtain the contract for county legal review, provide the board with recent CHI utilization reports and an example BestCare report, and return to the board for formal contract approval. The change, if finalized, would take effect July 1 and would be billed to the county based on the June employee census.
