Bidding for clinic gets OK of board

Plan calls for site near the Capitol

In a divided vote Tuesday, a state board decided for a second time to seek bids from health care organizations to set up a clinic for state employees near the state Capitol.

On another matter, the State and Public School Life and Health Insurance Board followed a recommendation from its benefits subcommittee and directed a state agency to prepare a solicitation for bids from companies to administer a Medicare managed-care plan for retired teachers and state employees.

The board, which governs the health plans for state and public school employees, first voted to seek bids for the clinic last month after rejecting a proposal to help pay for a clinic that would be operated by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

The board said at the December meeting that it would accept such a proposal only if it didn't involve using health plan money to support the clinic's startup and operating costs.

Bob Alexander, director of the Department of Finance and Administration's Employee Benefits Division, said Tuesday that an upfront investment would be required to support extended clinic hours and ensure speedy access for state employees.

He added that his staff is busy with the legislative session and handling vendor contracts that are expiring or coming up for renewal this year. It likely will be months before his staff has time to solicit bids from other health care groups to establish the clinic, he said.

In a voice vote, the board approved member Andrew Kumpuris' request that the benefits division solicit bids from vendors "as staff has time and the opportunity."

Soliciting the bids would be a "reasonable approach" to exploring the board's options, said Kumpuris, a cardiologist affiliated with CHI St. Vincent Infirmary and Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock.

"It may be that nobody takes the bait," Kumpuris said. "Then we'll have to do something else."

Joe Thompson, director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, which researched the clinic proposal, abstained from the vote.

Members Shelby McCook of Sherwood and Tony Thurman, superintendent of the Cabot School District, voted against soliciting the bids.

McCook, a former administrator of the Finance and Administration Division's administrative services office, said he's opposed to state agencies competing with private business.

He also disputed a claim that about 16,000 state employees work within about 2 miles of the Capitol. The Center for Health Improvement calculated the estimate using the location of agencies where employees work. McCook noted that many agency employees work far from their agency headquarters.

Thurman said the board should focus on more pressing concerns, such as improving customer service for health plan members.

"We're really not doing a great job at what we're supposed to be doing right now," Thurman said.

Alexander has said the clinic would reduce the amount of time state employees spend away from work because of illnesses and help lower the cost of state employees' medical care by giving them better access to preventative health screenings and other services.

The board's decision to have a request for bids prepared on the Medicare plan follows its benefit subcommittee's recommendation that the board explore offering Medicare Advantage plans as a way of cutting coverage costs for state and school retirees.

Such plans receive funding from the federal government to provide comprehensive health benefits to Medicare beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries continue paying their Medicare premiums, plus any premium charged by the insurance company, but receive their benefits through the company instead of through traditional Medicare.

The private plans might be able to provide the same benefits that the retirees currently get from Medicare and supplemental coverage offered by the state but at a lower cost, McCook said.

Board members said Tuesday that the benefits subcommittee and board will review the details of the solicitation for companies offering Medicare Advantage plans before the solicitation is issued.

Metro on 01/21/2015

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