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Insurance advisory committee: Cheshire health plans "well managed" but recommends broker review and higher excess liability
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Summary
An insurance advisory committee told the Town of Cheshire the town’s medical plans are performing at or slightly below municipal benchmarks and recommended targeted medical‑management changes, a broker review and exploring higher excess liability for property/casualty risks.
Katie Archer, an insurance advisory committee member, told the council the group reviewed medical and property/casualty coverages and concluded the town’s health plans are “running slightly below the benchmark of other municipalities’ plans.”
The advisory committee, formed earlier this year, framed its work in three areas: whether plans are operating well, why the Board of Education’s costs differ from the town’s, and short‑ and long‑term recommendations. Archer said strong preventive‑care uptake — screenings and annual physicals — helped keep costs more moderate.
“Are the plans running well? We do think that the town is doing a very good job running these plans,” Archer said. She described appropriate medical‑management programs and recommended asking the broker and carrier for more detailed peer‑denial and steering metrics for outpatient procedures.
Committee members discussed stop‑loss attachment points and risk‑pool options. Archer said the town participates in a municipal pool (CT Prime) and urged actuarial analysis before increasing the town’s stop‑loss attachment point, noting higher attachment points reduce premium but raise the town’s exposure to bad‑claim years.
On property and casualty, Charlie Martin, the advisory committee chair, warned of growing exposure tied to the town’s vehicle fleet and potential large jury awards and recommended testing the market. “I would recommend at least $20,000,000 if not even more,” Martin said when discussing excess liability above the town’s current tower of coverage.
The committee proposed several practical changes: expand medical‑management review for select outpatient services (Cigna as a second‑opinion reviewer), diversify employee communications about covered services, pursue a broker review or RFP to benchmark fees and service, and consider point‑of‑sale rebate strategies to reduce reliance on pharmaceutical rebates.
Council members pressed for follow‑up: run broker and actuary analyses, get pricing from the casualty broker on higher excess limits, and begin broker‑RFP work after June renewals. Committee volunteers said they would be available to help with RFPs and implementation steps.
The advisory committee did not present a formal motion; members framed the items as recommendations for council consideration. The council thanked the volunteers for the review and signaled it will return to broker/stop‑loss decisions after renewals are finalized in June.
