Penn State presents new health care proposal to Faculty Senate

David Gray wants to find a way to keep Penn State employees healthy and happy, and still help the university keep expenses under control.

This week, Penn State’s senior vice president for Finance and Business talked about new health care ideas with the university’s Faculty Senate.

“We’ve been working diligently over the past couple years,” Gray told the Centre Daily Times.

President Eric Barron appointed a health care advisory committee to explore ways to address employee concerns and university needs as Penn State approaches a new chance to revamp the way insurance is provided.

In 2013, the university rolled out a program focused on wellness. It was not well-received.

“People got stirred up,” Gray said.

At that time, the Faculty Senate got involved, asking the university in September 2013 to repeal a $100 surcharge on employees whose spouses or partners used Penn State insurance if they had another option through their own employers. Another fee affected employees who didn’t complete wellness requirements.

“That caused us to take a look, take a step back, take a real long thoughtful look and make some changes that are going to be sensible,” Gray said.

Highmark administers the university’s program, but Penn State actually self-insures. The contract with Highmark runs through December 2017. Penn State will be putting out a request for proposals from all possible carriers soon to handle administration, which could result in a savings on a contract worth about $200 million.

Other aspects will not wait that long.

Gray said the university will be making a change soon regarding lab testing, contracting with one company to provide all services to reduce costs. There will be a soft launch of that program in the summer with full implementation in January 2017.

Then there is the health care data warehouse.

That is not a new building going up on campus. Gray said it is an information technology application designed for storage and analysis of health care data. An RFP for that is “about to be released,” he said.

“We’re not getting adequate insight into what was causing trends to take shape,” Gray said. “It’s not just the university lacking that. Employees didn't have the tools to make informed choices. This will address both of those. We will also turn around and be able to provide transparency.”

Other changes on the table are shifts in deductibles and an investigation of pharmacy costs.

“Prescription drugs are really a challenge to everyone. There is an inflationary trend there,” Gray said.

Faculty Senate President Mohamad Ansari, a math professor at Penn State Berks, did not offer comment on the health care changes when asked. He answered requests with a link to the Penn State News article about Gray’s presentation on the university’s website.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 8:19 PM with the headline "Penn State presents new health care proposal to Faculty Senate."