Salary and Benefits Committee

August 2, 2013

Attendance: Julie Amon, Whitney Marsh, Ron Perkins, David Smith, Jennifer Schick, Andrea Westdorp, Quincy Williams.

Absent: Susan Proctor, Linda Yuhas

New Member Introductions

• Andrea requested roundtable introductions so all members in attendance would get acquainted. A question was addressed why each individual wanted to be on the subcommittee. Only two members, Andrea and Ron are returning members.

Old Business -

• Nothing pending, limited meetings of recent.

New Business

• Setting subcommittee goals for the upcoming year was the focus of this meeting. What do we want to learn more about? What speakers should we invite and what exactly is the goal of the subcommittee?
• Andrea reiterated to the new group that the main focus of the subcommittee is twofold: First to receive information from the A&P Benefits committee and pass that info on to our areas and second, to bring issues from the employees back to the committee.
• A suggestion was made to look at possibly grouping the A & P public pay listing so employees could see the pay of others in their group.
• Another suggestion was to compare university benefits across the state.
• It was noted that to help with something like this, HR is trying to get job descriptions updated.
• It was asked if there could be a focus on how the changes in health care benefits will affect retirement plans.
• The subcommittee was encouraged to look at the list of Health and Wellness Ambassadors to be familiar with their representatives.
• It was suggested that the subcommittee monthly meetings be held at various GVSU sites, Andrea will submit a schedule.

Updates

• Dave Smith provided both an update and an overview of benefits to the new members.
• Sue Sloop will again be providing retirement planning seminars in the spring. Be looking for upcoming video vignettes explaining benefits as well.
• Make sure to visit the benefits website often, it has a lot of information.
• Dave explained that before a benefits decision is made there are numerous committees that review it assuring a large buy-in is made.
• The high deductible insurance plan is still working well, a reminder that responsible users will help to keep future costs at a minimum.
• GVSU uses a measurement called a GDR, Generic Dispensing Rate; this metric shows that substituting generic meds within the meds class, not just exact equivalent, greatly reduces costs for both members and the university. Every 1% change in the GDR equates to a 2.3% reduction in costs.
• Benefits Open enrollment will be October 22 through November 6 for information to come in September.
• Standard PPO, Priority Health Standard HMO and Delta Dental rates will probably increase for 2014.
• Be looking for the Healthcare Bluebook mobile app, you will be able to check for the lowest cost facilities within the Cofinity network.
• To date Supreme Court actions on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA will not have an immediate effect on GVSU.
• Healthy Choices Incentive cohort data coming in the near future.
• GVSU is evaluating third party administrators as a potential replacement for UMR.

Next Meeting

• Quincy has volunteered to arrange to have the next meeting, tentatively,

Sept. 6 at the Bicycle Factory.

• Andrea to send out the official dates and locations of the upcoming monthly meetings.

Minutes respectfully submitted by:

Ron Perkins