Plan Management & Current Issues
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About Mr. Stark
Plan Management
Plan
management includes: picking and managing the carriers; reading,
understanding
and responding to the data reports; hiring specialists when necessary;
arranging training for committee members; and communicating to all
members of
the group. It requires understanding the distinction between
setting policy (a primary function for the Insurance Committee and the
administration) and coverage
administration—working with transaction details, like paying claims (a
duty of
the insurance company). It also requires understanding and
accepting fiduciary responsibilities: making decisions in the best
interest of the group.
Current Issues
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are getting considerable
attention now. Simply put, they work well for the young and
wealthy. Consumer Directed Health Care (CDHC) plans require
patients to become shoppers, but "They're not consumers, they're
patients. And when you're a patient , you're not in a shopping
mode." (Mark Hall, professor of law and public health, Wake
Forest University Medical School; Idaho Statesman, 11/03/2008.)Are individual life-time limits (generally $1,000,000) adequate? With medical inflation, some companies are considering increasing these limits. While the premium increase is usually moderate, Senate Bill 1395, passed in 2008, now allows individuals to qualify for the state's high risk pool when they are within 90 days of reaching their maximum coverage. This provides the protection high-risk individuals need.
Mental Health Parity laws were included with the financial-bailout package recently passed. They start Jan. 1, 2010, so watch for plan changes from your insurance company. They are expected to increase premiums about 0.4%.
Jim Stark, M.Ed.
1677 Lewis Ln.
Boise, ID 83712
208-376-6931