25D - AGMT - EMPLOYEE INSURANCE - Laserfiche WebLink

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Employee Group Insurance Renewals August 16, 2016 Page 2 The Employee Assistance Program assists employees and their eligible dependents in handling problems that may be interfering with their performance on the job. Consultation for problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, legal, marital and family problems are available. REACH currently provides services under this program. Full time and part time employees are eligible to participate in the Employee Assistance Program. We are currently in the second year of a three - year rate guarantee through December 31, 2017 The City purchases its dental insurance through Delta Dental and MetLife. Delta rates will increase by 1.9 percent and MetLife rates will increase by 5 percent, both of which are guaranteed through December 31,2017. The City purchases its vision insurance through EyeMed. The City does not contribute to the cost of this coverage. Employees are responsible for the full cost of this coverage. The current plan design was reviewed and enhanced to provide reimbursement for frames up to $120 every 12 months instead of every 24 months. The premium rates will increase by 7 percent in order to provide this enhanced this benefit and will be guaranteed for 4 years through December 31, 2020. The City purchases its medical insurance through CalPERS. The CalPERS health benefit program was established in 1962 under the Public Employees Medical and Hospital care Act ( PEMCCA). In 1967 the program was expanded to allow all public agencies access to the program. The City, through a resolution, amended its contract with CalPERS to allow it to participate in PEMCHA in 1996. CalPERS is the second largest public purchaser of insurance in the nation behind the Federal government and currently provides insurance for all State employees, public colleges and universities and to more than 1,000 school districts and local governments. To address the issue of rising health care costs, market stability, access and choice for contracting agencies, CalPERS utilizes a regional price approach grouping similarly located agencies into regions. This approach and other polices are credited with maintaining lower health care premiums, negotiating lower prices from hospitals, and negotiating savings on prescription drugs. The change in CalPERS basic HMO health plan rates range from a decrease of 11.66 percent for Health Net Salud y Mas to an increase of 18.87 percent for Blue Shield Access +, CalPERS has eliminated the Blue Shield NetValue HMO plan in 2017. The average increase for all HMO health plans will be 4.14 percent and the average increase for all basic PPO health plans will be 3.76 percent. The City's contribution toward medical for all bargaining units, except the Police Officers Association (POA), is tied to the Kaiser rate. Since Kaiser rates will decrease by 0.91 percent in 2017, the City will not incur any increase in costs for employees enrolled in the CalPERS medical plans in 2017. Employees who chose plans other than Kaiser will be responsible for any increase in cost above the City's contribution. Attached are the CalPERS health premiums for 2017 (Exhibit 3). 25D -2