From: White, Sean

    Sent: Tue Nov 11 13:33:55 2014

    To: Ringo, Molly

    Cc: Lee, Aanya; Newcomb, Kellee; Vanduren, Darla

    Subject: RE: Mercer budget

    Importance: Normal

     

    Thanks for the clarification, Molly. Here's a summary of where we are YTD, and what we might expect for the balance of the FY.

     

    For the first four months of the FY through October, our charges are at about $54K against an annual budget of $55K. As we look forward to the rest of the year, we can start with a reasonable baseline of the charges we've had in that period last year, or around $22K. Then there will be some additional Mercer services associated with your carving out of the WEA, including:

     

    * UHC online reporting set-up

    * Experience report set-up

    * Mercer involvement in UHC/MetLife claims issues

    * Review UHC SBCs and new plan (MetLife & UHC) contracts

    * Additional time to incorporate UHC renewals in renewal process

    * Review carving out dental for 2016 (as discussed during the renewal conversation back in August)

     

    With this additional work, I would anticipate that we will exceed the $55K budget by probably $30K or so for the FY.

     

    I hope that this gives you what you need, but we can discuss in the 30 minutes before the JLARC meeting. Let me know if you have questions in the meantime.

     

    Sean

     

    -----Original Message-----

    From: Ringo, Molly [mailto:MRingo@everettsd.org]

    Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2014 12:20 PM

    To: White, Sean

    Cc: Lee, Aanya; Newcomb, Kellee; Vanduren, Darla

    Subject: RE: Mercer budget

     

    Sean:

     

    Yes, It would help us to anticipate expenses beyond the non-commissioned budget. Thanks for helping us make this transition. See you before our JLARC meeting.

     

    Molly

     

     

     

     

    Molly Ringo

    Assistant Superintendent

    Teaching & Learning

    mringo@everettsd.org

    425-385-4023 | 425-385-4012 Fax

     

     

     

     

     

     

    -----Original Message-----

    From: White, Sean [mailto:Sean.White@mercer.com]

    Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 1:01 PM

    To: Ringo, Molly

    Cc: Lee, Aanya; Newcomb, Kellee; Vanduren, Darla

    Subject: RE: Mercer budget

     

    Thanks for getting back to me, Molly. When you ask about "anticipated expenses beyond the annual budget" are you asking for how much above the non-commission budget of $55K we might expect to incur between now and the close of the FY (6/30/15) and some details about the work involved? If so, yes, I can absolutely pull something together.

     

    And yes, I am available to meet to discuss this in advance of the JLARC meeting; I can plan to get you the budget info in advance so you have a chance to review before we meet.

     

    Finally, the UHC medical premiums are on a net of commission basis, so Mercer will not be receiving commission income on those plans. Of course it's up to you whether commissions are included; if you would prefer to cover all of our fees through commissions, we could build an appropriate amount into the premiums for 1/1/2016, but there is nothing there for 2015.

     

    -----Original Message-----

    From: Ringo, Molly [mailto:MRingo@everettsd.org]

    Sent: Friday, November 07, 2014 1:51 PM

    To: White, Sean

    Cc: Lee, Aanya; Newcomb, Kellee; Vanduren, Darla

    Subject: RE: Mercer budget

     

    Sean:

     

    Thank you very much for this communication. Would it be possible to do some budget forecasting regarding the anticipated expenses beyond the annual Mercer budget. If you could give specific details that would be helpful. Also, with our change does this impact any commissions that the Trust might receive? Darla and I are thinking that it would be helpful for us to meet for 30 minutes on November 19th prior to our meeting with JLARC? Would that work in your schedule? Unfortunately, I am not able to meet between the JLARC meeting and the Trust meeting due to a meeting outside of the district.

     

    Again, thanks for raising these issues with us.

     

    Molly

     

     

     

     

    Molly Ringo

    Assistant Superintendent

    Teaching & Learning

    mringo@everettsd.org

    425-385-4023 | 425-385-4012 Fax

     

     

     

     

     

     

    -----Original Message-----

    From: White, Sean [mailto:Sean.White@mercer.com]

    Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2014 2:40 PM

    To: Ringo, Molly; Vanduren, Darla

    Cc: Lee, Aanya

    Subject: Mercer budget

     

    Hi Molly and Darla,

     

    I was just reviewing our invoice including services through October and wanted to reach out. As we talked about when discussing the Mercer SOW for the 2014-2015 period, we kept the budgets at the 2013-2014 levels, not knowing whether the Trust would elect to move away from the WEA. For this year's renewal process, we've had a good deal of "unbudgeted" services including the extra financial modeling associated with reviewing alternate medical carriers, and with the decision to move to UHC, we've had more charges than in past years associated with our implementation assistance. This all results in non-commission charges above where we've budgeted. We also talked earlier about how, if ESEBT did choose to carve out of the WEA, Mercer's services would increase (associated with monitoring and reporting on plan experience, reviewing and negotiating the renewal, etc.) Again, since we didn't know what the decision would be, the budget was held flat. With the decision to carve out, I do expect some extra charges associated with the activities above for the rest of the budget year.

     

    As always, we will strive to be as efficient as possible and focus our activities only on the things required and valued by the Trust. I did want to point this out, though, so there are no surprises when you receive our next and future invoices. Would it be appropriate to share this message with the broader group of trustees and HR team as well? I am starting with the two of you, because I am not sure how much further beyond you our invoices are reviewed.

     

    Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss.

     

    Thanks,

    Sean

     

    Sean White, Principal

    Mercer Seattle | 1301 Fifth Avenue Suite 1900, Seattle, WA 98101, USA Mercer Boise | 800 West Main Street Suite 1250, Boise, ID 83702, USA Seattle Office +1 206 214 3705 | Boise Office +1 208 338 6418 | Fax +1 206 214 3501 | Mobile +1 206 234 5683 | sean.white@mercer.com<mailto:sean.white@mercer.com>

    Assistant: Dee Thompson| +1 206 214 3708| dee.thompson@mercer.com<mailto:dee.thompson@mercer.com>

    www.mercer.com|<http://www.mercer.com|/ > Mercer (US) Inc.

     

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