For the first time in 30 years, workers at Astro-Med, Inc. are
contributing 15 percent toward the cost of their health insurance.
The
head of the West Warwick manufacturing company, Albert W. Ondis, was
chagrined having to ask, according to Lori L. Charpentier, the human
resources director. At the same time, his 270 employees were
disappointed, but not surprised, by the request.
“They knew it was coming. The word is out there. The market is
changing,” Charpentier said. “This wasn’t a shock. They read the
newspapers. They watch the news and listen to the radio.”
As it turned out, 10 employees dropped their Blue Chip coverage and 25
switched from family to single coverage. Still the damage could have
been worse, Charpentier said.
Working in Astro-Med’s favor was its membership in the Employer Health
Care Coalition. The group, whose goal it is to improve health care in
Rhode Island and make it more cost effective, was founded last May by
Health Strategies, a Cranston health care consulting company. Health
Strategies’ president and chief executive officer, Edward N. Belt, Jr.,
helped Astro-Med through almost four months of negotiations for a
contract that started Dec. 1.
The “very substantial” premium increase was enough to require employees
to ante up for the first time, Charpentier said. But it was definitely
less than the figure Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island first put
on the table.
“Ed (Belt) said ‘this is what we need. Health Strategies is going in and
taking the role of bridging the gap between the employer and the health
care provider,” Charpentier said. “And as a (insurance) carrier, you
want to keep Health Strategies happy.”
The EHCC is “all about building bargaining power” — or in the case of
Astro-Med growing from 270 employees to 60,000 over night, Charpentier
said.
The latter is the approximate number of employees at the EHCC’s 65
member companies. Short term, groups seek to promote competition among
health plans. Long-term, they want to improve quality of care and shift
the onus of health care purchasing from employer to employee, Belt said.
“The employers don’t want to make that choice for their employees,” Belt
said. But for now, their hands are tied.
“For the most part we’ve been horse trading over the years,” Belt said.
The good news is “I think the whole model is changing.
“I think the model is going retail,” he said.
Meanwhile, the EHHC is trying to “vote with one voice” on issues “that
employers can rally behind and not be divisive,” Belt said.
Data collection — or the sharing of underwriting statistics by insurers
— is at the top of the list. Health plans have been reluctant to share
information about claims and usage, citing patient confidentiality, Belt
said. But the EHHC is working on a model that would protect patients and
provide employers with the raw data needed to choose smartly.
