Is the Timing Ever Right? School District Has No Regrets After Changing Health Insurance Plans
CLIENT:
Johnson Creek School District
ISSUE:
The Johnson Creek School District was facing implementation of Act 10, new legislation affecting a host of public employee benefits. On top of this, the District had concluded it needed a smarter health insurance plan for its employees – a very low percentage of staff accounted for a very high percentage of cost. The low deductible plan meant a majority of the staff were paying for something they weren’t benefitting from. The situation was daunting: With the repercussions of Act 10 uncertain, was it really the right time to take on the challenge of finding a new health insurance plan?
IMPACT:
A successful conversion has meant lower premiums for all – and the District saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With M3 as its advisor, the District decided to move ahead and search for a new insurance plan. “M3 facilitated the entire bidding process,” explains Michael Garvey, Johnson Creek School District Administrator.” “They distilled all the information for us so it was easy to understand,” he says, noting that M3 maintained “neutral ground” and allowed the District to make an informed decision on its own, which was exactly what Garvey had requested.
Once a selection was made, M3 assisted with the transition, including processing applications and facilitating sessions with school staff that explained the new plan. Speaking of which, according to Garvey, all employees now pay a lower premium and the District backfills the higher deductible. In other words, everyone is benefitting, including the District itself, which saved approximately $400,000 in the first year of the plan’s implementation.
