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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – NOVEMBER 5, 2018 2 benefits received are non-taxable. The City does offer a deferred compensation plan but this is all employee funded, no City contribution is made. No changes are recommended in those areas. Finance Director Bauman stated that Health and Dental was discussed the most by the FPAC. The information was received from the benefits consultant in early November and they committee has met twice since that time. The study noted that single healthcare insurance premiums are paid entirely by the cities surveyed. Larger jurisdictions used a flat dollar amount for many years for benefits and that amount can be used like a cafeteria plan to cover the premium for whatever the employee chooses. Arden Hills has been paying 100% of single, a portion of family and a contribution to the HSA plans. Cities with HSA’s usually contribute a portion of that dollar amount to the HSA with the rest going to premium. Single coverage is normally provided at no cost to the employee. Family coverage is where the limits or target come into play. In the survey a range of $1,075 to $1,205 is what cities that were surveyed paid in 2018. NFP brought options to change to Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medica, Preferred One and PEIP. The committee narrowed it down to our current plan and PEIP. The PEIP program offers three different plans: Advantage, Value and HSA plans. The Advantage and Value plan premiums are a bit more expensive but have different benefits and lower out of pocket maximums. There is a significant price difference in the PEIP HSA plan versus the current plan but it is more limited in care options, higher deductibles and higher max out of pocket. Finance Director Bauman discussed the premium breakdown charts provided. She stated that the committee would like to get away from the percentage based premium payments and go to a flat based amount. The union contract states that the employer will contribute the same contribution as approved for non-union employees. Councilmember Brenda Holden noted that several surrounding counties and cities are in the PEIP plan, and having that large of a group minimizes the premium fluctuations. Finance Director Bauman said the City could look at just the HSA plan. If an employee wanted to take the Value or Advantage plan the employee would pay the difference in cost. After picking the plan the employee would choose the network, either HealthPartners, Blue Cross Blue Shield or Preferred One, and then choose a primary clinic. Primary care clinics are listed at different levels, 1-4. One is the least expensive, four is the most expensive. The chart provided was based on level 2. After discussion, the Council was in agreement with the FPAC recommendation to change to the PEIP insurance plan. Finance Director Bauman questioned how the city contribution would be handled for union employees since they City was going to a flat amount. She recommended raising the contribution to include the HSA contribution. After discussion, the Council decided to raise the union employee’s contribution to $1,025 and discuss further at the next union negotiations.