TCAPS makes health insurance switch

Dec. 23--TRAVERSE CITY -- Picking a health insurance plan just got a little simpler at Traverse City Area Public Schools.

The district, which has worked with two providers for its eight employee groups, will make the switch to a single provider, Michigan Education Special Services Association under Blue Cross/Blue Shield, at the start of the new year. TCAPS teachers, bus drivers as well as the secretarial and clerical employees already are covered by MESSA. The administrators, facilities and maintenance, food service workers and other non-affiliated support staff agreed to make the switch from Priority.

TCAPS Associate Superintendent Christine Thomas-Hill said she believes the move helps make the process more efficient.

"Having different bills from each company and having different plans for each different group has been kind of an administrative nightmare," Thomas-Hill said. "We will be moving into 2019 with six plans because there is one plan that will be grandfathered in. But at the start of 2020, we will only have five plans for the whole district by one provider."

The contracts of all eight groups have already been amended, and open enrollment for employees ended Friday. TCAPS Associate Superintendent Jame McCall said the employee groups were excited about making the change.

"One of the big benefits is staff morale," McCall said. "You could see it in the room when people were talking to all of the different groups. It's a huge benefit to say we offer and you get to pick."

Thomas-Hill said the premium savings will range between 0-9.7 percent depending on which of the five plans an employee chooses. Most employees only had a choice of one or two plans before this agreement.

"It's really going to be an individual-based savings depending on what product they use. What most employees who don't currently have MESSA see as a benefit is a premium savings plus a more comprehensive plan," she said. "This is little more customized, so as an individual I can pick one of the five plans that will work best for me and my family."

The district's financial responsibility for health insurance will not be affected by this change, according to Thomas-Hill.

"This is a big benefit for the individual employee," Thomas-Hill said. "This is not something that the district as a whole is going to benefit from. Obviously, we get an ancillary benefit of only having to deal with one provider, but the premise behind this was solely an opportunity for the employees."

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