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Benefit consultant pitches 'difference card' MERP to lower county health premium
Summary
Benefit consultants from EIC/PIC and the difference-card vendor presented a MERP (medical expense reimbursement plan) and a debit-card based member experience that they said could lower Pratt County's fixed premiums and return surplus dollars to the county while using Assurant as stop'loss protection.
Rhonda Fernandez (S8) of EIC Benefits Services and Harrison Lambert (S9) of the difference-card vendor presented a plan that would pair a higher-deductible carrier plan with a county-funded MERP and a vendor-issued benefits debit card to reduce the county's fixed premium costs and improve member access to care.
Harrison described the mechanics: the county would move members to a higher-deductible underlying carrier plan, capture premium savings, and fund a MERP from those savings to reimburse members' near-term out-of-pocket expenses via a vendor debit card. He said the vendor provides a level-premium equivalent and that stop-loss reinsurance arranged through Assurant would cap the county's exposure. "We are backed by Assurant," he said.
Rhonda walked the board through fee figures the packet contained: an administrative fee of $37.45 per person, a stop'loss fee of $35.77, and a card fee of $1.50, which she presented as a combined monthly per-person charge the county would pay alongside the MERP funding. The presenters said surplus remaining in the MERP at year'end would belong to the county and that vendors typically return 100% of any surplus.
Commissioners asked about member experience, merchant acceptance, and how the plan would interact with a potential state revenue cap that could constrain the county's ability to raise revenue. The vendor proposed open-enrollment education and on-site meetings for staff and employees as part of implementation. No formal procurement decision was made; the presentation was offered for the commission's consideration ahead of renewal decisions.
