The meeting was called to order by Kelly Shepherd at 4:04 p.m.

 

A revised agenda was presented. A motion was made by Molly Ringo and seconded by Adam Goldstein to adopt the agenda as revised. The motion passed unanimously.

 

A motion was made by Jeff Moore and seconded by Susan Lindsey to approve the minutes from the September 16, 2015 meeting as written. The motion passed unanimously.

 

Darla introduced Bruce Dietrich of Toyer, Dietrich & Associates CPAs, who conducted the annual audit. Mr. Dietrich noted that the audit went well this year and everything checked out as expected. The Trustees thanked Darla and the other team members who provided information for the audit, for their excellent work in making the audit run smoothly. The Trustees asked how many hours went into conducting the audit. In-house it took approximately 10 or 11 hours. All other work was done offsite through email. Mr. Dietrich said the area that he was most concerned about testing was in making sure the employees are getting the medical plan they are asking for, at the price they want. He said that is the hardest part of the administration of the Trust; making sure that employees know what is available to them and making the best decision for themselves. There were not findings in this area. Mr. Dietrich also noted the Trust receives good advice on its investments. A motion was made by Adam Goldstein and seconded by Gregg Elder to approve the annual audit.

 

Rickie Lee shared the monthly Wellness Program report with the group. At the request of the Trustees, she will provide additional data on Walktober including comparisons of locations and departments, and percentages of participation at each location. Rickie Lee shared some recommendations from the flu clinics including to provide additional locations in the south end of the district. A suggestion was made to offer the clinics at each of the large high schools to provide more opportunities and to make it more accessible for employees. Employees shared that they also appreciated having the health fairs at the flu clinics. One issue that arose during the flu clinics was that some insurance carriers (not UHC or GHC) would not cover the shots with the traveling nurses. Affected employees understood that this was a provider decision. The Trustees thanked Rickie Lee for her efforts and interactions with employees.

 



 

Open Enrollment: Randi reported open enrollment was announced to employees yesterday. All open enrollment communications will be provided electronically this year and employees were informed that printed benefits information would not be provided. Randi noted that employees on leave that would not normally be checking their email outside of work would receive printed information. She said the first of four benefits help-sessions were held today at Everett High School. Communications will be sent out regarding the help-sessions to encourage more employees to attend. As in past years, they anticipate the last week of open enrollment to be the busiest. The group discussed the multiple communications options for employees to receive the information including through email, the payroll monthly message on payday, association newsletters, the Communications to Principals packet, and staff bulletins/newsletters. The Trustees emphasized the importance of making sure employees receive the message that there is one-on-one assistance available to them. Open enrollment closes Sunday, November 15 at midnight. Work will then begin to verify changes in time for payroll to run all within an 8-day window.

 

New Benefits Technician : A new benefits technician, Angela (Angie) Erickson, has started in human resources. Randi shared her background and noted she will attend a future meeting to be introduced to the Trustees.

 

Benefits Reminders : Emails on Wednesday’s will be sent to employees reminding them of the help-sessions and how to communicate with HR staff. They will be covering questions and answers regarding short- and long-term disability, vision care options and access. Employees will also be made aware that they do not have to take any action if they decide to stay with their current benefit plan. Flexible spending accounts do require yearly action. The Trustees discussed contingency plans for employees who might experience technology issues over the weekend and are not able to complete changes. Randi noted they can tell (in Employee Online) if there was an error when employees were logged in but did not complete changes. Randi noted that they are not anticipating a lot of traffic because only the cost of the plans are changing, not the plans themselves. She also noted that the Employee Online log-in is now the same as employees computer log-in so it should be much easier. However, if assistance is needed over the weekend employees can call or email human resources on Monday morning to explain and receive assistance.

 

United Healthcare Update : Randi shared that employees are now realizing that UHC (not Premera) is going to be the provider going forward. Now that the official communication is out, they have received some calls from employees voicing dissatisfaction with that decision. However, benefits staff are talking with employees about the issues they are experiencing and offering to help them in any way they can. UHC has also been very responsive when contacted.

 

The group discussed concerns that employees are not getting the message that they can contact benefits staff for assistance. Randi said they are happy to help and most likely can come to a solution for the employee. She also noted that UHC records all calls and can find a call of issue if they know the date and time, or they can also use the plan number. Randi said for the most part everything is going pretty good and the challenges or issues they are hearing about are at a normal level. The Trustees thanked her and her team for all their troubleshooting.

 

The group discussed agenda items for next month’s meeting. Randi will provide the EAP report at the November meeting if it is available.

 



 

The meeting was adjourned by Kelly Shepherd at 4:53 p.m.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

Adam Goldstein

Secretary

 

kn

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