By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
After struggling with a tight deadline for a decision on health insurance in recent years, Burlington Area School District Superintendent Peter Smet decided something needed to change.
As a result, Jeffrey Ireland – the district’s representative with M3 Insurance – came to brief the School Board Monday night on the process.
“There was frustration last year, and previous years, because of the timing,” said Smet Tuesday. “It was a very short timeline for decision-making.
“We wanted to start the process very early,” Smet added.
Ireland spoke for about a half hour Monday night, outlining the issues that will affect the district’s health insurance rates this year.
The good news for the district, Ireland explained, is that health insurance providers are “fighting” for school district business now in what he termed a “soft market.”
As a result, there could be a number of different options for the district to consider. While the WEA, Humana and the Group Health Trust continue to lead the school district market, Ireland pointed out that United and Anthem are also expressing interest in getting involved.
There may also be a narrow network option with Anthem that could include Aurora, ProHealth, Children’s Hospital and the Medical College of Wisconsin – but not Froedtert Hospital.
Ireland also said that wellness programs are gaining popularity, but districts – and not just BASD – are switching providers every few years. That, he said, is making it difficult to keep momentum going with a wellness initiative. Ireland added that he is going to add it to the RFP for the district this year.
Ireland also said the district is taking a hit because of specialty medications used only by a few. That medication is often very expensive (he gave an example of $40,000 for one prescription of a specific drug) but also the best drug to treat a condition.
“It’s not like there’s a generic,” he said.
Ireland also outlined two possibilities for on-site care, both of which would possibly involve hiring someone to provide care and even perhaps wellness counseling at a site specific to BASD.
Ireland finished by saying he is aiming to have a proposal to the district by April 1. That date would give the district about two months to sort through the proposals before setting the budget.
He also added that he plans on putting together a more in-depth presentation that will be available via an online link, so board members and others can review the options before having to discuss them in meetings.
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