John Curry: Business as usual at STRS

John Curry to Laura Ecklar, December 4, 2009
Subject: Re: Response to E-Mail

Laura,

Thank you for this communication below that took the intervention of a Board member to initiate. According to your letter below, it is apparent to this retiree that STRS places little value on integrity when it comes time to do business with our contractors because, as you say, they are "separate and distinct." I am not surprised.....it's just "business as usual" at STRS.

John Curry

From Laura Ecklar, December 4, 2009
Subject: Response to E-Mail

Dear Mr. Curry,

Mr. Nehf has asked that I respond on his behalf to your recent e-mail regarding the use of UnitedHealthcare for STRS Ohio associates’ health insurance. The decision to enter into a lawsuit against a company for past corporate wrongdoing and the decision to retain the best vendor to provide services to STRS Ohio are separate and distinct. While publicly available information regarding alleged wrongdoing may be considered when we are evaluating different vendors, this does not serve as an automatic bar to doing business with a company. In the vast majority of situations, the alleged wrongdoing has no relationship to the services provided to STRS Ohio.

Regarding UnitedHealthcare specifically, STRS Ohio has had a long-standing relationship with this company. Nevertheless, approximately every two years, we request bids from four to five major insurance companies. To date, these inquiries have confirmed that it is in STRS Ohio’s best interest to retain UnitedHealthcare.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Thank you.

Laura Ecklar
Director, Communication Services