Overview

RESIG’s Employee Benefits Department was created in 2008 to offer a dedicated, local service team for our member-districts, their employees, retirees and COBRA members. Rose Burcina,Director and Patty Baumunk, Administrative Assistant are both CA licensed Life & Health agents and along with Elizabeth Matheny, Clerical Assistant, are available to assist with phone calls and walk-ins including active employees, retirees, COBRA members and our district administrative teams. Thirty-three member-districts participate in our fully-insured Medical program while 26 participate in our self-insured Dental program. Additionally, we administer the vision plan benefits for 19 districts. Administrative services are offered at no cost to our member-districts; a fee schedule applies to administrative services performed for non-member-districts. At least three Benefits Managers meetings are held annually to give our district administrative teams updates from our carriers and assistance with the renewal and open enrollment processes.

Health Program

RESIG’s broker, Alliant Insurance Services, negotiates with health benefit program carriers on an annual basis. The current plan period is October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. The Health Program includes Kaiser and SISC Blue Shield plans. Kaiser offers three HMO plans and a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP); compatible with a Health Savings Account (HSA); SISC offers four PPO plans including an HDHP compatible with an HSA. Kaiser’s Senior Advantage and SISC’s Blue Cross Medicare plans are available for retirees over age 65 with Medicare Parts A & B. Every district offers a Kaiser High Option Plan and 28 districts offer the Kaiser Mid Plan. Twenty-two districts currently have participants in the HSA plan, which is administered by RESIG. The four SISC Blue Shield plans are also available to each district.

Dental Program

Twenty-six member-districts participate in RESIG’s self-insured Dental Program with Delta Dental. The current plan period is October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. RESIG has added three new plans to our dental options for the 2011-2012 plan period.  Our plans now include $1200/$1100, $1600/$1500, $2100/$2000 and $2600/$2500.  Please contact the Benefits Department for plan and rate information.

Wellness

Kaiser HealthWorks

I am excited to announce that Kaiser has agreed to extend the HealthWorks program for our plan year 2011-2012.  Kaiser rarely grants back-to-back HealthWorks programs but considering our success and participation, Kaiser supported our request to continue the momentum and generously funded a final year to RESIG.  There will be several free flu shot clinics in districts throughout Sonoma County in October and November and health screenings planned for Spring 2012. 

Whole Foods

RESIG has partnered with Misty Humphrey, the Healthy Eating Specialist from Whole FoodsMarket in Coddingtown to provide important and relevant health and wellness information to our community of school districts.  Our mutual goal is to create a “trickle down” effect to influence what our school children eat and how they view and understand nutrition by providing the information to district employees.  Misty will be conducting the following FREE Health Study Courses at RESIG listed in the Upcoming Events section below.

Anytime Fitness

RESIG’s district employees and their immediate family members are eligible to enjoy the special “Educators” discount of 50% off enrollment fees including a complimentary fitness orientation when you join and 20% off monthly dues.  A free 7-day guest pass to try the club before you join is also available.  There are five locations for your convenience (Larkfield Center by Molsberry’s Market, Santa Rosa Ave by Costco, Mountain Hawk Way in Rincon Valley, Golf Course Drive in Rohnert Park and Lakeville Highway in Petaluma).  Simply say that you’re a RESIG district employee to get started soon!

Champions Rock!

Our Team is made up of district employees just like you and includes RESIG and carrier staff.  Our goal is to bring our districts local, low-or-no-cost wellness programs and innovative ideas especially considering that this is the final year that we will receive funding from Kaiser HealthWorks.  We meet at RESIG about 4 times per year and the Champions work in their districts coordinating events that we have developed (i.e. flu shot clinic, health screenings etc.). 

Please contact Rose at rburcina@resig.org to become a volunteer Wellness Champion today!

2011-2012 Plan Renewal Information

Plan Changes

Kaiser and SISC Blue Shield will remain our plan carriers throughout the upcoming 2011-2012 renewal period, and brief descriptions of the Kaiser and SISC Blue Shield plans and upcoming plan changes are included in the Forms section for your reference. 

Rate Changes

SISC Blue Shield’s active and early retiree rates will increase approximately 1 - 2.0% for Blue Shield PPO plans.  The SISC Blue Cross CompanionCare plan will decrease from $437 per retiree/per month to $427. 

Kaiser’s active and early retiree rates will increase approximately 16.4%.  Kaiser’s Senior Advantage rates will decrease slightly. 

• Delta Dental’s rates will increase approximately 15%.
•  
• VSP’s vision rates and renewal periods vary district-by-district. 

Rate sheets for each coverage plan are posted in the Forms section. Please contact RESIG Benefits if you would like more detailed information. 

Upcoming Events (all meetings are at RESIG unless otherwise noted)

September 15, 4:30-6:30pm, Healthy Eating 101

October 13, 4:30-5:30pm, Vitamins & Minerals

November 10, 4:30-5:30pm, A Trip Down the Digestive Tract

November 16, 8:30-10:30am, Benefits Managers Meeting

• December 8, 4:30-5:30pm, Hidden Food Allergies
•  
• January 12, 4:40-5:30pm, Antioxidants & Superfoods
•  
• February 9, 4:30-5:30pm, Sleep 101

March 14, 8:30-10:30am, Benefits Managers Meeting

March 28, 3-5pm, Stakeholders Meeting

May 23, 8:30-10:30am, Benefits Managers Meeting

Healthcare Reform

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010.  The companion bill, the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (H.R.4872), was signed into law on March 30, 2010.  Together, these two bills constitute what is commonly referred to as the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) or Health Care Reform.  

Very little is spelled out in the legislation, and employers, brokers, insurance companies and attorneys are scrambling and indeed struggling to interpret the new law.  Many – and perhaps most – of the requirements and regulations of this new legislation remain unknown at this time.  Employer groups must comply with the legislation as they renew their health plans following September 23, 2010.  Therefore Health Care Reform affects RESIG and its Health Program member districts beginning October 1, 2010.

We believe that RESIG’s Health Program member-districts will be considered a collective employer group as members of RESIG’s JPA and we are approaching Health Care Reform with that understanding, although this is not known with certainty at this time. 

Although there is much about Health Care Reform that we do not know or understand at this time, we will keep you informed as we learn more about how it will affect your day-to-day business concerning our Health Programs.  If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact rburcina@resig.org for assistance.