[Vision2020] ID Public Records Law: UI Health Insurance

[Wayne Price]

Rosemary,


Now you really have me curious. WHO are the four (4) trustees?


Wayne


On Oct 4, 2009, at 8:14 AM, Rosemary wrote:

> Visionaries:
>
> Saundra has succinctly outlined the issues that concern us regarding  
> health insurance at the University of Idaho. When Saundra explained  
> to me the difference in premium cost between the UI and other higher  
> education institutions in this state I was appalled.  We have all  
> watched in dismay as the University of Idaho suffered because of the  
> poor, indeed criminal, leadership decisions in the last decade.   
> Sure, some of the jackasses responsible have sauntered into the  
> sunset - or in Bob Hoover's case inexplicably into a better paying  
> position at a private college in the state - without a backward  
> glance or guilty twinge at the carnage they created and then happily  
> left behind. Not all the miscreants vanished in 2003. So, naturally,  
> when I learned that the premiums paid by UI employees for health  
> insurance coverage go into a pool called the Health Benefits Trust  
> with sole oversight under the direction of four UI employees, I get  
> a sinking feeling.
>
> “11. HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN AND HEALTH BENEFITS TRUST Any person with  
> a sense UI history should hear the bells ringing like a four alarm  
> fire when they learn:
>
> The University of Idaho (“University”) is self-insured for the  
> health insurance benefits it provides to employees and retirees. In  
> June, 2007, the University established an affiliated but independent  
> trust for the purpose of funding and paying its medical, mental  
> health, dental and vision claims and their
> associated administrative costs under its health insurance plan for  
> both active and retired employees. This trust, known as the  
> University of Idaho Health Benefits Trust (“HBT”), was established  
> as a tax-exempt entity under Section 115(1) of the Internal Revenue  
> Code of 1986, as amended. TheHBT is administered by a board of four  
> trustees who are members of the University’s active staffand  
> faculty. The HBT is maintained in an independent trust account  
> established with U.S. Bank.
> This trust account is maintained under the sole control of the HBT  
> board of trustees.”
>
> and
>
>  “NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
> JUNE 30, 2008 AND 2007
> Payments under the HBT are initiated via electronic request by  
> University personnel on a weekly basis based upon processed claim  
> information provided to the University by its contracted health plan  
> claim administrators. All retiree-related costs incurred on an  
> annual basis within the HBT apply toward the calculation of the  
> University’s Annual Required Contribution (“ARC”) as determined  
> under the requirements of Governmental Accounting Standard Board  
> Statement 45, “Accounting and
> Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other  
> Than Pensions.” The funding of the University’s liability under GASB  
> 45 is recorded separately from the HBT under a second trust, the  
> “University of Idaho Retiree Benefits Trust” as disclosed in  
> Footnote 13 of these financial statements.  The HBT does not issue a  
> publicly available financial report.”
>
> http://www.uihome.uidaho.edu/documents/UI%202008%20Audited%20Financial%20Statements.pdf?pid=111453&doc=1
>
>
> I sent a public records request to the UI asking who these anonymous  
> but strangely powerful trustees were and how they were chosen to  
> serve.  After ten working days I received their names but my  
> question on how they were appointed was ignored, and remains  
> unanswered.  It is personally astonishing to me that letters to Dr.  
> Nellis aren’t acknowledged. The most minimally efficient office  
> establishes that routine protocol early on; even elected officials  
> in Idaho have mastered the art of pretending to be interested in  
> constituents.  While the effects of an efficient smooze technique  
> are lost on the two of us, what isn’t lost is our interest in  
> unwrapping the story of how and why UI employees pay more for less  
> insurance.  We’ll follow the money and let you all know how we are  
> progressing.  And, not surprisingly, we’ll call bull shit whenever  
> we smell it.
>
> Rose Huskey
>
>
>
>
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