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Bar News - February 9, 2001 Group Insurance Committee Considers Health Insurance Issues By: John B.Andrews Survey of Law Firms Under Way RECENT NEWS ABOUT the troubles of various health plans has had the Bar staff fielding dozens of your calls seeking advice on health insurance alternatives. The news media is replete with stories about skyrocketing premiums. As the fund administrator of a risk-bearing group plan that covers over 50,000 people in New Hampshire, I see this trend up close and personal as our trustees struggle to set affordable rates. My reading of the professional employee benefits journals and industry publications makes it clear that the original concept of "managed care" is fading into the past. The easy fixes have been implemented, and providers have become more organized and sophisticated in their negotiations with insurers. The ability of managed care companies to transfer significant risk to providers as a means of keeping rates down is rapidly diminishing. The Bar's Group Insurance Committee is mindful of the impact this situation has on lawyers and their staffs. The committee sees a continuum of possible responses from "do nothing because it's bigger than all of us put together" to running educational programs on selecting health insurers, utilizing §125 plans, self-insuring with large deductibles (e.g. $2,500) and medical savings accounts, creating a group purchasing alliance, or creating our own risk-bearing entity, alone or in conjunction with other Northern New England bar associations. The committee is aware that in the past, Bar-endorsed health plans haven't been able to deliver much in the way of discounts. Many firms, particularly larger ones, may have plans with which they are happy. However, it may well be possible and feasible to construct something even better in terms of future availability, pricing and coverage with a great deal more control over these elements by the Bar members who utilize an NHBA plan for these benefits. Information is needed However, no informed judgment can be made on this subject without hard data and the only place to get that data is from you! A selected sample of the membership has received a survey to provide the information needed to evaluate alternatives. Because of the large number of sole practitioners and firms with less than five attorneys, these firms will be surveyed as part of a randomly selected sample. Most of the larger firms will be surveyed. Please note: Even if you think at this time that your firm probably wouldn't participate in a new plan, it is critical that we have the information in this survey in order to even begin to assess the feasibility of a new approach to health care benefits. Also, without a study like this, you'll never know if a new plan would benefit your firm or not. So please take a little time to make sure this survey is completed. It will gather information not only about the attorneys in your firm, but also about staff and dependents of attorneys and staff. It is designed to get a snapshot of the entire universe of potential plan participants. The response deadline for the survey if you are in the sample is Feb. 16, 2001. All responses are confidential, but because we are using a sample for part of this study we will need to know which firms and practitioners respond in order to get valid data on which to make any decision on whether or not to proceed. All information collected will be aggregated so that no firm, attorney or staff member can be identified. In addition, none of the aggregated information will be made available to any broker or company except in furtherance of this study. Once the responses are tabulated, the survey will be reviewed by a consulting underwriter and an actuary who have agreed to "take a first look" to see what alternatives they feel are feasible. Based on their advice, the committee will then make a recommendation to the Board of Governors as to the next step. Options could range from terminating the study as unfeasible to committing funds to formally engage an employee benefits consultant and proceed with creation of a plan. These matters take time. Health insurance and employee benefits are complex areas in which greater geniuses than your committee have lost millions of dollars in months by not proceeding with caution, sound judgment and good information. Until our work is done, there is little comfort your Bar Association can offer in this marketplace. Even if the journey on which we are about to embark reaches a successful landfall, health insurance will never again be inexpensive. Success in this area is a) being able to buy decent, stable coverage b) for all your risks c) with access to a reasonable network of providers in whom you and your family have confidence and d) at prices which you/your practice can afford. John B. Andrews, chair of the Bar's Group Insurance Committee, is the Merrimack County representative on the NHBA Board of Governors. He is executive director of the NH Municipal Association, which operates a health insurance trust for local government employers. If you have an interest in working on these issues with the committee, contact Andrews at jandrews@nhmunicipal.org or by calling 224-7447. |
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