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Washington council approves move to self-insured employee health plan after presentation
Summary
At a Dec. 8 special meeting, the Washington, Mo., City Council voted unanimously to accept staff27s recommendation to move the city27s employee health coverage to a self-insured plan administered by UnitedHealthcare/UMR with Smith Rx handling pharmacy management; presenters cited pharmacy rebates and reinsurance caps as the main savings and protections.
WASHINGTON, Mo. — The Washington City Council voted unanimously Dec. 8 to accept staff recommendations to switch the city27s employee health plan to a self-insured model administered by UnitedHealthcare with UMR as third-party administrator and Smith Rx as the pharmacy benefit manager.
Scott Treffer, the benefits consultant who presented the proposal, told the council that carriers other than UnitedHealthcare declined to bid because the city27s loss ratio is about 120 percent and the plan currently includes four high-cost claimants. "We received an 18% increase on our dental," Treffer said, and for medical he reported "a 22% increase from United" while larger carriers declined to bid.
Treffer said two protections are…
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