FLASHBACK -- 3 YEARS AGO...Lotsa' talk, not much action on healthcare

"Dave Travis, a Health Care Advocate representing retired teachers, said the advocates have hired a national health-care consultant to assist them with developing immediate steps to address rising costs. He said the firm would be in Columbus next week.

Travis said there are several issues the advocates want help with, including how to deal with the out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs paid by low-income retirees."

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Dave, 3 years have passed - still no major reform. A transparent PBM overseen by the state of Ohio (like the one in Wisconsin and the U. of Michigan) would go a long way towards reducing Rx costs by eliminating the middleman (like Medco and Caremark), but of course there would be no opportunity for kickbacks, would there? John Curry

STRS board weighs options to contain health care costs

Canton Repository, November 20, 2003

By PAUL E. KOSTYU Copley Columbus Bureau chief

COLUMBUS — Pooling members of the state’s five retirement systems and finding a single health-care provider for them may be a way to attack the rising cost of health care.

That was one of the options the State Teachers Retirement System board heard Wednesday night during its joint meeting with the system’s Health Care Advocates.

The advocates organization is working to bring together the five pension boards, labor and management groups and other stakeholders to talk about health care, said Bill Leibensperger, who represents active teachers in the advocates organization. He said the meeting will happen soon.

“Something outrageous like this is needed for these outrageous times,” he said. “We’re talking about a large group of people. Health care is not a need that will go away.”

Pooling could include all public retirees, just active employees or just retirees, said Terri Bierdeman, director of governmental relations at the State Teachers Retirement System. She said the Legislature should establish a study group to examine the level of health care to be provided to Ohio’s public employees, the fiscal need and resources for doing so, and cost savings. She said collective bargaining requirements, federal limitations and the impact of a pool on the financial and health markets also need to be addressed.

An STRS-Advocates work group recommended the teachers system join other pension funds to draft state legislation to create Retiree Medical Accounts, a mechanism to allow individual accounts to be set up with some tax benefits.

The same work group recommended the State Teachers Retirement System explore the net cost of providing health care to re-employed retirees. Anecdotal evidence suggests that this population would be a net contributor to the health-care cost pool, board members were told.

“The study, perhaps by the Ohio Retirement Study Council, should look at the whole package not a given system,” Bierdeman said.

Time, however, is of the essence, board members and advocates agreed.

Dave Travis, a Health Care Advocate representing retired teachers, said the advocates have hired a national health-care consultant to assist them with developing immediate steps to address rising costs. He said the firm would be in Columbus next week.

Travis said there are several issues the advocates want help with, including how to deal with the out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs paid by low-income retirees.

Sandra L. Knoesel, State Teachers Retirement System deputy executive director for member benefits, said another strategy to be explored is whether a pharmacy expert and physician should be hired to help develop long-term health-care investment strategy. Other options worth exploring, she said, are a pharmacy management plan, analysis of health risk assessments for retirees, patient management programs and alternative provider delivery systems.

She said the board faces a late spring 2004 deadline for making decisions that would affect the system’s next budget.

Jack Chapman, a State Teachers Retirement System board member, said he wants to see results.

“This is all very nice, but we’re just talking,” he said. “We’re not moving. I want closure.”

“We’re going to get there,” said Deborah Scott, chairwoman of the board’s health committee.

You can reach Copley Columbus Bureau Chief Paul E. Kostyu at (614) 222-8901 or e-mail: paul.kostyu@cantonrep.com