Brownsville ISD's self-funded health plans yielding big savings

Brownsville ISD is Largest employer in Valley

According to the Brownsville Herald, the Brownsville Independent school district has been saving big bucks over the last 2 years thanks to it's self-funded health plan. Is this something that perhaps UISD and/or LISD could implement?  How about LCC and TAMIU pooling their resources together to get a better deal on health insurance- or do they already do that?  Here's an excerpt from the Brownsville Herald's story:

The Brownsville Independent School District’s self-funded employee health plan cost the district less during 2009-2010 than it did during each of the previous two school years, BISD’s school board insurance committee learned Friday.

A summary provided to committee members by administration showed that net costs for the plan in 2009-2010 totaled $37.05 million compared to $43.45 million in 2008-2009 and $37.67 million in 2007-2008. Per-employee, per-year costs also went down. In 2009-2010 the PEPY figure was $4,893 compared to $5,817 in 2008-2009 and $5,141 in 2007-2008.

“That is almost unheard of in the healthcare industry,” Eric Wright of Mutual Assurance Administrators Inc. said after the meeting. Wright was at the meeting to present information and answer questions about the first quarter of MAA’s second plan year, which started Oct. 1, 2010. MAA took over as third-party administrator for BISD’s health plan in October 2009. The previous TPA was HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc., which administered the plan the previous two years. Before that the TPA was Mutual of Omaha.

In self-funded health plans, the TPA administers the plan on the employer’s behalf, providing a network of medical providers, claims management and other services.