City negotiates insurance amendment for employees

Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety members agreed to allow a change in insurance for city employees that gives them access to inpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment at a reduced rate.

The board on Tuesday gave Arlette-Cooper Tinsley, the city's human resources director, the ability to amend the city's summary plan description with SIHO Insurance Services.

Cooper-Tinsley told board members the amended plan will "create a special relationship" with Recovery Centers of America at Indianapolis to offer inpatient mental health or substance use disorder treatment for any city employee or dependent, as well as city retirees.

Cooper-Tinsley said they were able to negotiate a rate for overnight treatment at Recovery Centers of America at Indianapolis that is 30% less than the Anthem rate, which she said is the lowest rate. Doing so took "a considerable amount of time" and Cooper-Tinsley in part credited the city's insurance broker JA Benefits, who had a similar arrangement work for another municipality.

Previously, the HR director said that city employees or their dependents have had trouble finding an in-network treatment provider. If they had, the location would sometimes be as far as Utah.

The city is saving some money through the amendment with direct billing, Cooper-Tinsley said, where SIHO will process a claim but the city will pay the center directly.

"It will save the city money and it will save our employees money," Cooper-Tinsley said. "… If they choose this location, we would cover their care at 100%."

Recovery Centers of America also offers special treatment programs reserved specifically for police and firefighters, but those locations are a bit further away in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Mayor Mary Ferdon called the new arrangement "very much needed."

"It's really important that we offer employees and their dependents as much care as we can, because we want the employee to be back at work, doing their job as they do," Ferdon said. "Or if they have a dependent who's struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues— it takes a toll on the entire family. So this is one of those benefits that is really critical."

The change also puts the city in compliance with anticipated changes to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), Cooper-Tinsley said.

"That law has been written, (but) the regulations are not produced yet. So there's not a lot of communities scrambling yet. We're like ahead of the game. We're putting in place compliance before we're required to."

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