Approved by the:

Faculty Senate and Student Senate November 16, 2000 Administration January 19, 2001* Board of Regents - no action required

*Central Administration has accepted the recommendations of the Health Plan Task Force and has charged a joint faculty/administration task force to carefully review and implement or modify, as appropriate, the recommendations of the Task Force.

Recommendation 1. The University should establish a standing Benefits Advisory Committee to monitor the benefits packages available to employees and to advise the University administration. The committee membership should include representatives of all affected groups.

Recommendation 2. The University administration should continue the recently-initiated negotiations with the State Department of Employee Relations (DOER) to acquire a management flexibility that has not been available through the state up to now. The flexibility should include:

1. Direct negotiations between the University and DOER.
   
2. The ability to modify plan design and employer contribution strategy of the state plans.
   
3. The ability to offer additional plans and benefits.
   
4. The ability to determine eligibility.
   
5. The option to have a separate risk pool.

Recommendation 3. The University should maintain a diverse and stable set of health and dental plans, as well as group policies for long-term care, to meet the needs of its diverse set of employees, retirees, and graduate assistants.

1. Diverse plans should include the option to better cover alternative medicine and non-network expenses.
   
2. Stable plans require flexible management of employer contributions to direct more funding to plans that attract poor risk.