ALC-Employee Benefits Division Oversight Subcommittee

Okay call the meeting to order I have no comments the first item we need someone to make a motion to suspend the rules to hear the agenda items today. Okay I have a motion and a second the rules are suspended for the so we can hear the agenda At where to item D. so long the tolls and Lauren Ballard if you could come to the table. We want to hear about the approval of the actions of the state board of finance will have. We'll have several items to approve after they do their presentation we have questions okay introducer sales and then you can. Sturch. Salita tolls deputy director employee benefits division the Department of transformation shared services. Marm Ballard I'm interim chief legal for the Department transformation church services. Okay you both might pull the lights just a little bit closer second. I'm a little hard of hearing. Thank you relevant yes go ahead. All right well good morning we are here to. Review the quarterly report for quarter for fiscal year twenty twenty two. that report is mandated by act one one three of twenty twenty two and so we want to walk through it a high level overview and we're here to answer any questions that you might have for. So get started. Right it is probably in your packet exhibit the one is that quarterly report Suggests to the chairs of the subcommittee dated July twenty ninth. this report requires EBT to describe any new cost containment measures or changes to benefits or increases or decreases in premiums and so the only item that we have that fits that description for this particular quarter is the approval of our three year contract with United healthcare to provide a Medicare advantage plan for state public school retirees so that has been approved since we last me this report said. That's that's that any questions about that particular item. Does anyone have any questions about the three year contract with United. Okay saying nine go ahead group or the next few documents are reports prepared by our actuaries. There is a five year projection looks like this total plan experience. For both state and public school systems. And then we have a more granular breakdown of the monthly. Tracker. Okay I'll give everyone just a little bit to look at the numbers that's okay. Representative Springer do you have a question. Good morning yes I just wanted to inquire not about the reports but about whether or not the meetings are still taking place across the state with respect to communications about. Benefits. And whether or not there any. Here locally. That I may attend. So the summer education meetings wrapped up just this past week we had about sixty one hundred State and Public School retirees that attendant of so they have wrapped up but there will be some fall benefit meetings and the. We can provide those states for you for sure but they'll be starting in October. And I'll be all over the state thank you you're welcome. Okay Senator Ingram you're recognized. Yeah. The I think would be good for all of us when you report back at the end of the year that we get an idea of how many people opted in and opted out of Medicare advantage I think that would be a question we will we will want to know and I think it's important to get it on the front end the secretary will make sure that we bring that back. Senator sample you're recognized thank you manager or are we going to get a. A schedule of when those meetings are going to take place across state I noticed I got one the not too long ago and that was from. Three months ago. Right for the summer meetings yes will provide a fall benefit education meeting okay because I would certainly like to go and participate in the one in my area yes thank you thank you manager. Okay say no further questions I want to move on to the next item yes so the next item on the agenda thank you is. Your exhibit the two this is a list of the formulary recommendations report. just to give a little bit of background Mediaworks with clinical consultants from the UAMS college of pharmacy the. D. B. R. X. which is evidence based prescription drug program so basically each drug is reviewed by a committee of pharmacists and physicians before it is added to our formulary so this particular report is the recommendations for that came out of their last meeting and so there's a series of changes and so just just so that. To give you a little background The old EBT Board and posted drug utilization in evaluation committee would review these in a public meeting and take those up to a board vote for approval and so that's basically what's here. any new drug that comes to the market is reviewed before it's added to our formulary Jaxenter currently covered on the formulaire also reviewed if there's new evidence available or if the prior authorization criteria needs to be reviewed or relaxed or removed. Meeks excluded drugs need to now be covered based on new evidence so that that's this is a compilation of the series object they've reviewed most recently for your review and approval. A representative for law you're recognized. I have a motion madam chair and propped on. Okay and do you want to receive the item three thank you sorry face. Foreign item three finally is our request. To issue R. F. peas for An employee assistance program. Okay I'm sorry go ahead. we're requesting to issue a new R. F. P. for employee assistance program you may know that employee assistance programs offer basically additional support for employees that are maybe dealing with life transitions or stressors at work or. Whatever it may be and I think additional support because the health benefit does cover mental health and therapy and things of that nature but the services offered by the employee assistance program are available at no cost to the employee so it is time for us to renew that contract or go out to our if he actually for that contract and so we are asking for permission to issue that R. F. P. and we're gonna make a few changes to it It is a helpful benefit but we don't see very high utilization and right now we pay about a dollar thirty three per employee per month and. We see about anywhere between two and four percent utilization for those benefits so we are seeking alternate pricing models possibly pricing models based on actual utilization or a hybrid between utilization and an employee counts we just want to see what's out there on the market and also we want to allow for online and virtual counseling our current. Arrangement requires in person counseling be available and so we think there may be an opportunity for a planned savings if we had to go out there and explore what's now available and and see what the innovative options might be for statewide operation. Senator Hammer you have a question thank you madam chair I noticed that on the on the House handout that we have at the county emphasizes what's that about the current utilization is comparatively low less than four percent I mean the state's paying for benefits to many employees are utilizing did you did you have any. way of determining why it is that they're not used to using it is it like education not knowing where to go to fund it what did you find well it it's it's hard to say When the current when we enter the contract back in twenty nineteen there was quite a big push of communication and training offered around to various HR departments across the state. There was a slight up tick during the Copa pandemic but really no. No real sense of why it's not being used possibly members have personal. Therapists and counselors that they are paying for through the medical benefit it's it's really hard to say why that's not. More utilized but it is a debatable. If and I'm just curious and and if I'm interrupting us right. Why would we why would we want to. Ask for more money to do something that wasn't working previously in what's going to be different about this than what was previously being done well and and that's the thing not necessarily asking for more money but asking to issue the R. F. P. to find out if there are other options out there that might be a better service to our population and might. Have a better cost savings for the plane so if if there is an opportunity for the utilization based model that could potentially save the plan money it might be more expensive so it's just. We're asking for an opportunity to explore what's out there and what can be offered to our employees okay all right thank you you're welcome Senator Ingram you're recognized. DO you have anything else still warned of a. What. Representative Wardlaw I'm sorry you have a question. Okay. Okay. Only one more request to issue an RFP for actuarial services what I failed to mention on the employee benefits I'm sorry on the employee assistance program and the actuary contract they are currently bundled into the third party administrator contract and so we'd really like to break those out and have direct contracts with those vendors so obviously you can tell by these reports that EVD works very closely with this actuarial firm we rely on the very heavily for plan administration compliance with federal regulations developing benefits rates and several other things as well as reports for boards and commissions and so we would like to contractor regularly with our and our actuarial firm so we're asking to be able to issue this RFP as well the current contract within twelve thirty one of twenty two. So do you want us to approve the separately then are together the RP is that one or if the I was one ROC's two different lists were published in two different are okay thank you. Saying no questions let's let's take up the first item I needed a motion to. Approve the employee benefits division quarterly report. The representative Larry to hear second. All in favor. All opposed the motions passed of represent Wardlaw thank you have a motion item to. Thank you madam chair I think I can Kim came combined item two and three and a motion if that would please. This of I don't. Well I mean that's fine and we don't want to hear we don't hear actuarial and employee benefits separately and if anyone has a problem with it I think if you hear my motion you okay go ahead so my motion is too high first part of a motion is to hold item to for approval for next month's meeting in September second part of a motion would be to approve the actuary R. S. P. to be issued and hold the employee assistance program for further information to next month as well. Okay and I think everyone will understand the motion little bit better when we get to item eighty so I do I hear second. Okay all in favor say aye All opposed. Okay thank you very much we'll. I move on to the. PVM RFA. Thank you. Mitch rouse hill comport. He'll introduce yourself. Mr Elson the Secretary of TSS and director of the office of state procurement. Go ahead. Sure so this the update on the current PBM are if the we're still developing it last month after this meeting we pulled it down we we worked it we sent it to Siegel the consultant they request a couple weeks to look at it I think they should get that back to us sometime later this week and I'm sure we'll have some more discussions with them before we put it out on the street. So you so you still don't have sales recommendations not that I'm aware and less they sent on this morning or maybe late yesterday directly to EPD in and just hasn't been shared with me. Okay representative for law you have a question. Thank you madam chair. So in the email that we received from law director bleed. He didn't want to give that time to see go so I'm I'm hearing you correctly that we are allowing C. go to get that are to be back tomorrow and we're going to take those recommendations into account yes Sir I'm sorry I thought he responded to that and so the two weeks would be fine we wanna make sure we give Siegel plenty of time to look at it and uh will get their recommendations back and we'll work with them on on whatever we need to incorporate so you are correct he did respond and in his response he move the information implementation date almost a year out and if I recall correctly last month you in on a group of legislators met during that recess period and we agreed that the information implementation date should be as close to the beginning of twenty twenty three as possible with a phase in period that would not exceed July first of next year it am I correct in our agreement. So my memory of when we spoke representative Wardlaw is that we would put that back out we'd have to come back up here for special procurement but that hasn't happened yet and that we would look at extending that time depending on what entity came out ahead and that and and that In putting it out on the street you're right yes we contemplated extending that time we don't want that implementation date to limited I think that's language we can we can do January one in January on or not we're not we're not going around a basketball here did we not agree that we would have this in place by July first and that included a transition period between a new vendor if one is picked and the current vendor did is there. I'm sorry represented Wardlaw my understanding was that if the incumbent does happen to come out ahead that we would implement January one because they wouldn't have to be your hand off period but if some other vendor came out ahead which is which is as likely as anything that we would come back here for special procurement and at least extended out through July but we also discussed that going out with a new PBM in the middle of the in the middle of the plan year could cause problems for members and we need to discuss that potentially push it out yes Sir. I think that's an agreement I'm not sure what that is All right well I think we just got to push forward and make sure that we follow this process And gathers many bettors as possible to make sure it's a fair process can we agree on that yes Sir we absolutely agree we want to get the best vendor we want to get plenty of competition in this thank you. So you will have an answer for us by next meeting next month. We should have the R. P. out on the street between now and next month it it depends on what Siegel comes back with an and you know any any work we have to do to kind of finesse that but yes I I anticipate within the next few weeks will have it out yeah Hey Magarey was represented Wardlaw the implementations important trip okay thank you very much I don't see no further questions any other business from the Committee. Seeing none were turned. Or.