Washburn University Health Insurance Premiums
State of Kansas Lowers Health Insurance Premiums
The Sunday, November 6, 2005 issue of The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the health insurance premiums for state employees would decline up to $69 per month. The decrease in premiums was due to better plan management and more efficient use of insurance benefits by state employees.
Preliminary reports on Washburn University's self-insured health plan indicate that the fund balance has grown from $1.5 million as of June, 2004 to just under $2.6 million as of June, 2005.
Compared to State of Kansas premiums, it would appear that Washburn University employees may be paying almost $2,000 more per year than a state employee pays for family medical coverage.
Perhaps the Washburn University Faculty Senate could address the need for Washburn University to build its health insurance reserve at the rate of over $1.0 million per year while faculty and staff are paying $2,000 per year more than state employees for family health insurance coverage.
The Board of Regents has received correspondence regarding the health insurance premiums charged by Washburn University, but there has been no response.
University Health Plan Renewal - September 9, 2005 Board of Regents Summary
For a second year in a row, the health insurance premiums paid by Washburn University employees will not increase. I guess that was the good news. This area received significant discussion by the board members. Good questions were asked, few answers were provided by the administration.
Answers provided by President Farley were difficult to follow. It was my experience, when managing a self-funded insurance program, that a separate fund was maintained for the insurance transactions, including the receipt of premiums and the payments on claims. That does not appear to be the case at Washburn University.
Therefore, questions asked about the amount in which revenues exceed claims received murky responses. President Farley assured the board members that more was added to the reserves than had been projected each year and that this was planned. No one could tell the board the amount in which the revenues exceeded claims last year. Confusion seemed to stem from the fact that the health plan is on a different fiscal year than the university and that revenues come from two sources, the university and the employees. Another weak explanation provided by the President, a CPA, was the confusion created by unpaid claims and the timing of claims made.
At some point it seemed that President Farley acknowledged that there was $2.5 - $2.7 million in reserves for this health plan. In the FY04 audit report, the self-insurance program had a reserve balance of just less than $1.5 million. So, if the reserves are in fact $2.5 now, it means that the high health insurance premiums have increased the university reserves by over $1.0 million in year.
Finally, Mayor Bunten asked how many employees earned less than $22,822 per year. The administration was unable to answer this question. A review of the budget documents indicates that at least 52 employees are in this category, with 19 of these in the collective bargaining unit as food service and custodial workers. The rest of these employees were retail clerks, secretaries, and other support staff.