The Board of Trustees had an extra meeting Monday to meet the newest member and also used the time to approve several health care measures.
The trustees forgot to introduce Kyle Pierce, the student member of the board, at the last meeting. After his introduction, Randy Howard, vice president of business affairs and treasurer, presented revisions to health care that were discussed at the last board meeting.
Howard updated the trustees on the renewal of ancillary insurance benefits, the 2014 health care plan and an amendment to the alternate pension plan, all of which gained trustee approval.
The Hartford, a health insurance company, was selected to be the sole ancillary benefits provider, which is additional medical coverage. Howard said the university is anticipating around $850,000 in savings each year by aligning all of its contracts with the Hartford.
“Any saving we produce are available to be reinvested in critical areas, such as retaining talented faculty and staff, strategic initiatives and cost containment that benefits students,” he said.
The 2014 health care plan also was approved, which will increase premiums an average of 8.1 percent.
The university partnered with Sibson Consulting to survey those eligible for the plan to garner their opinions on the university health care.
“Those that had better knowledge believed our benefits were more competitive,” Howard said.
The survey also found that medical benefits are most important to those eligible and premiums are the choice method.
