Employee Benefit Trust Minutes - 05/31/2005 CITY OF WICHITYA FALLS
EMPLOYEE BENEFITS TRUST MEETING
May 31, 2005
Present: Bill Sullivan, Chair
Darron Leiker, Interim City Manager
Jim Dockery, Director of Finance
Gail Gannon, Employee Benefits Coordinator
The meeting was called to order by Bill Sullivan at 9:00 AM.
Agenda Items:
Approval of Minutes:
Bill Sullivan made a motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of May 20, 2005.
Darron Leiker seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Appeal
An appeal was made by an employee regarding the dental coverage for his dependent
who had reached the age of 20, therefore requiring proof of student status to remain
covered. The employee had failed to provide the required documentation when requested
from him in September, 2004. The coverage was then terminated in October '04. In
May, 2005 the employee stated in a letter to the Board that, due to being on vacation, he
had gotten the notice after the specified deadline date and did not act on it. He was
requesting reinstatement of his dependents dental coverage.
After much discussion, the Board determined that the employee had ample time to
contact the Employee Benefits office regarding the fact that he had gotten the notice late
and, in addition, had failed to re-enroll the dependent during the January, '05 open
enrollment period, either one of which would have provided current coverage to the
dependent.
Darron Leiker made a motion that the Board not allow reinstatement at this time, in order
not to set a precedent. Bill Sullivan seconded the motion. Motion carried
It was decided that a letter would be sent to the employee, denying reinstatement until the
2006 open enrollment.
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Other Business
The Board then discussed the upcoming meeting with representatives to present
proposals on Flex Spending Plans. It was decided that they would meet with Alt Benefits
on Friday, June 17t and with AFLAC at a date to be determined later. Jim Dockery
expressed his desire to meet with these representatives and to get a Flex Spending Plan in
place,hopefully by the end of the year.
It was decided that a meeting with Marvin Traywick, consultant, would also be on the
17`h. Topics of discussion with Mr. Traywick to be his previous recommendations and
the United Regional Health Care Center contract arrangement.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Garmon
Employee Benefits Coordinator
Wichita
.� 4 i
June 1, 2005
Employee Benefits Trust
Board Members
Gentlemen:
I wish to bring to your attention a matter that disturbs me. My doctor recently ordered
a series of blood tests. I was scheduled to have the work done at the Clinics Of
North Texas lab when a co-worker mentioned that he has his blood work done twice
a year at the in-house clinic for only$10 each time. Knowing that this is a great deal I
promptly called to make an appointment. Imagine my surprise to discover that my
blood work would be $88.20, not the $10 that I expected. When I sought to find out
why, it was explained that because I have chosen Plan B, not Plan D, my cost to use
the in-house clinic was 9 times higher than some of my co-workers. Most people
would assume that in a cafeteria style plan, the more expensive plans would build
upon the lower plans, adding benefits as the cost increased. In this instance we find
that the opposite is true. I pay a very high premium to be on Plan B yet my benefits
cost more. Make sense? To add insult to injury it is my understanding that the fee
paid for the blood work at the clinic will not count towards my deductible.
I ask that you review this portion of our health care plan and allow all employees to
use the in-house clinic for the same price. Additionally I ask that you authorize the
refund of the $78.20 that I over paid for this service. Thank you for your prompt
attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
David Lehfeldt
Sanitation Superintendent
1300 7th Street P.O.Box 1431 Wichita Falls,Texas 76307