Dan Proskauer: Vision and Leadership for Newton Schools!
 

DISCLAIMER:  I work for a health care company (doing Software Product Development – not Sales!).  See my bio for details.  I am not advocating anything to do with my employer.  I just have knowledge of this subject area that I believe is worth sharing.

There has been much discussion of the GIC as an alternative to lower health benefit costs.  I wanted to take the opportunity to expand the discourse in this area.  Since Newton is self-insured, we enjoy the luxury of proposing multiple health care options.  Yes, there are collective bargaining constraints, but we need an accurate view of the health benefit landscape.  The plans offered by the GIC are all traditional HMO or PPO plans.

I wanted to introduce a relatively new option called the High-Deductible, Consumer Directed Health Plan (HDCDHP).  I have recently had my own experience with this type of plan (which saved my family $3200 over a PPO) as our employee health coverage is moving aggressively in this direction.  In fact, this is a trend that is more widespread than most of us realize.  Could Newton get out in front on an issue like this?

The information below (text and charts) is excerpted from a survey of employers conducted by Mercerhealth.

The new plan model’s appeal to employers seems clear: CDHPs delivered substantially lower cost per employee than either PPOs or HMOs in 2008. CDHP cost averaged $6,207 per employee, compared to $7,815 for PPOs and $7,768 for HMOs (Fig. 5). Of the two types of CDHPs, HSA-based plans were less expensive than HRA-based plans ($6,027 compared to $6,420). 

The most obvious explanation for the difference in cost between CDHPs and the other medical plan types is the higher deductible. But even compared to the average cost of PPOs with deductibles of $1,000 or higher ($6,661 per employee), CDHPs still cost less by over $400, even though CDHP enrollees are not significantly younger than enrollees in PPOs with high deductibles and are more likely to elect dependent coverage (which drives up cost per employee). The 2008 cost increase for CDHPs was 4.0 percent, compared to 6.3 percent for PPOs and 9.1 percent for HMOs. 

 “With deductibles in traditional PPOs rising, the CDHP is becoming a more attractive option for employees who have a choice,” said Mr. Bos. “If your employer puts money in the account and you don’t use many services, you can end up ahead.  But it all depends on how you use health care.”

 


Comments

Bon

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 17:35:54

How many american jobs did you outsource while working for Axcelis?

 

Dan Proskauer

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:17:58

Bon -

I don't see the connection to the topic, but I'll answer nonetheless.

Being in a field (Software) where jobs are easily transferable, I've had to come grips with this question years ago.

There is no such thing as "American Jobs". There is work and there are jobs to accomplish the work. Any false sense of entitlement that you or I may have that certain jobs are *ours* harms only ourselves by making us complacent and stunting our own growth. Competition makes us stronger, protectionism makes us weaker.

Let me tie this back to education. If we want to *win* the competition for jobs, we need to make sure that our children get the education they need to be the most effective and efficient in the world. Today the US lags many other countries in this regard and although Newton is generally a leader, we too can do better.

It is with this goal in mind that I am running for School Committee.

 

Lisa

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:30:45

Dan,
Of course there is the lack of properly trained Americans! Try filling a job in the biomedical sciences--almost impossible to find an American willing or able to do the tough work. But with you on the SC I am confident that Newton will be a leader in STEM education!

 

Emily Norton

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:01:20

Thanks for looking into this. I am excited about a SC member who is willing to consider all options and new ideas and not just sigh "well, that's the way we've always done it"...

 

Dan Proskauer

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:12:36

Bon -

The concerns and frustration that you are expressing with Axcelis are unrelated to this topic. Since you are leaving fictitious email addresses on your posts, I am making this offer that if you want to contact me privately, I'm happy to talk to you. I have deleted your last two posts and will delete future similar posts.

 

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