King County Executive and the Joint Labor Management Insurance Committee announce 2007-2009 county benefits plan

Nov. 2, 2005

King County Executive and the Joint Labor Management Insurance Committee announce 2007-2009 county benefits plan

King County Executive Ron Sims and the Joint Labor Management Insurance Committee (JLMIC*) today announced additional details regarding the county's new Healthy IncentivesSM benefits program for 2007-2009.

Sims said the county's new program will help slow the rising trend of health care costs by saving a projected $40 million over three years, while also supporting the county's 13,000 employees and their families in adopting healthier lifestyles and making better health care decisions.

"Controlling our health care costs, without sacrificing coverage or shifting the burden of premium costs onto the backs of our employees, has been one of my top priorities," Sims said. "Our Healthy Incentives program will allow us to do that at the same time it offers welcome assistance in improving the basic quality of life of the county's employees."

The program has the support of both management and labor.

"Our options were simple – shift the burden of rising costs to employees or do business differently. We decided the only acceptable option was to do business differently," said Dustin Frederick, JLMIC co-chair. "We think our Healthy Incentives program will hold down costs and get people feeling better so they can live healthier lives and be more productive at work."

Last March, a framework was adopted that provides employees and their dependents with the same comprehensive covered services currently offered by King County's benefit plans. The framework also established three out-of-pocket expense levels that are determined by the level of participation in the Healthy Incentives℠ program, not current health status.

The following new provisions have been adopted as part of the Healthy Incentives program for the 2007-2009 benefits years. These include:

A wellness assessment and individual action plan. Beginning January 2006, employees and their spouse/domestic partner (if covered by King County) will be encouraged to take an annual voluntary and confidential wellness assessment. In the interest of maintaining employee privacy, the assessment is based on an honor system. The county or its representatives will not check to see whether employees fill out the assessment honestly. Nonetheless, the experience gleaned from similar programs around the country indicates that the vast majority of employees will answer questions on the assessment truthfully. The wellness assessment generates individualized action plans to help employees and their spouse or domestic partner develop or maintain healthy habits. To support participants as they adopt healthy lifestyles, there will be special tools, resources, and coaching available. Taking the wellness assessment and following individualized action plans determines which out-of-pocket expense level a family receives.
Three out-of-pocket expense levels. Gold, silver and bronze. Each level provides the same covered services. The difference is the amount of out-of-pocket expenses, such as deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance. If an employee and their spouse/domestic partner take the wellness assessment in early 2006, they are eligible for the silver out-of-pocket expense level. If an employee and their spouse/domestic partner take the wellness assessment and follow up on their individual action plans for at least 90 days, they will be eligible for the gold out-of-pocket expense level. If employees choose not to participate in the program, they will receive the bronze of out-of-pocket expense level. The following tables indicate some of the out-of-pocket expense levels for individuals and families covered by both KingCareSM and Group Health for the 2007-2009 benefit plan years.

KingCare	Gold Level	Silver Level	Bronze Level
Annual deductible	$100 individual $300 family	$300 individual $900 family	$500 individual $1,500 family
Office visit co-pay	none	none	none
Annual out-of-pocket maximum	$800 individual $1,600 family network (+deduct.) $1,600 person $3,200 family non-network (+deduct.)	$1,000 individual $2,000 family network (+deduct.) $1,800 person $3,600 family non-network (+deduct.)	$1,200 person $2,400 family network (+deduct.) $2,000 person $4,000 family non-network (+deduct.)

Group Health	Gold Level	Silver Level	Bronze Level
Annual deductible	none	none	none
Office co-pay	$20	$35	$50
Annual out-of-pocket maximum	$1,000 person $2,000 family network	$2,000 person $4,000 family network	$3,000 person $6,000 family network