Minutes of Benefits Advisory Committee (BAC): January 26, 2012

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Attending: Lise Sanders, Steven Roof, Amy Diehl, Heather St. Germaine, Yaniris Fernandez, Jerry Bohdanowicz, Hilary Clark, Shelly Ruocco (ex officio) and in a consulting role, David Hoffmann (Strategic Benefits Advisors - SBA)

I. Review of Minutes: Some revisions of minutes suggested. Shelly will update, run by a couple of members and post.

II. Stats on Open Enrollment focusing on Low Cost HMO and the Supplemental Life: 75 staff signed up for the Low Cost HMO. Usually a college would expect to have 5% enrollment but Hampshire, in part due to extensive outreach and education, had enrollment at 20%. About 75 employees purchased additional life insurance coverage for their spouse/partner and dependents, something not available in past years. In both cases, it was clear that these benefit changes were what our employees were looking for in additions to coverage options.

III. Bidding out Health Insurance: The College has not bid out its health insurance for about two years, and it may be time to do so, if our claims history is currently favorable. If we bid this out, we would try to do so with others in the Five Colleges, so we get a more competitive rate. We might not want to bid out our insurance if we have a favorable "loss ratio" which is claims divided by premiums. Dave will keep his eye on these figures. Action Item: Dave will update us after a Five Colleges meeting on this topic.

IV. Employee Benefits Survey: The BAC discussed what the goal would be for conducting a benefits survey. We decided we want a baseline on the needs and values of our employees as a starting point for future strategic work on benefits. Part of this might be to ask our employees to rank and value our benefits on the survey. The BAC will discuss at our next meeting more specifics about the survey. Dave will bring some sample questions.

V. Announcements:
? Gym Reimbursement - Tufts Health Plan will reimburse up to $250/year for membership. The new benefits person in HR will send out a notice once on board.
? Zumba has been announced on Hampshire Daily Announcements. Classes begin soon.
? BAC will meet next on March 1, not February 23.