Stir Pot, Save Pots of Money
“Stirring the pot” resulted in $1 million in savings on health plan costs, health care presenters told the Plainfield Board of Education Tuesday.
The meeting took place at the new administration complex at 1200 Myrtle Ave. The board’s work-and-study agenda contained resolutions that would have awarded prescription and health care contracts to new providers, but the presenters said the competition spurred existing providers to come up with more favorable terms.
Mark Lawrie and Darcel Moreno of Willis HRH explained to the school board how seeking quotes on the plans resulted in Benecard Rx and Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield giving concessions. Proposed resolutions awarding the prescription plan to CIGNA Insurance and Bollinger Insurance were pulled and will not appear on the board’s agenda at the regular meeting on Oct. 21. The original providers will remain in place.
Lawrie referred to the district’s challenge as “stirring the pot,” a strategy that paid off.
Business Administrator/Board Secretary Gary Ottmann said the district spends almost $14 million per year on health costs. The reduction was finalized only on Tuesday in advance of the board meeting.
Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III described the proposed arrangement as the “same service, less cost.”
School board member Patricia Barksdale proclaimed herself “ecstatic” at the outcome. Member Lisa Logan Leach called for similar action on all professional services contracts, “so cost savings can go back to the classroom.”
Gallon said that could not happen for some very specialized contracts, because no competition exists. But he said as the opportunity comes up, some contracts may be eliminated and others will be subjected to competitive review.
The new scrutiny will counter the expectation of some providers that their contracts will automatically be reviewed, Gallon said. The measures are linked to Goal 3 of Gallon’s strategic plan for the next three years, “to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of business operations.”
Ottman gave a presentation Tuesday on another issue related to the business operations goal, strict state policies on travel by staff and board members. Those traveling to conferences or professional training sessions must do so only with prior board approval and will not get reimbursed until after they return. Ottmann read from sections of the New Jersey Administrative Code that say travel must be “educationally necessary and fiscally prudent” and that prohibit 18 items for reimbursement, including alcohol and car rentals. Travelers must obtain three airfare quotes over the internet before flying and cannot use travel agents, according to the new guidelines.
Ottmann said of the rules, “They’re new, they’re strict.”
The full set of rules was given to each board member prior to the discussion and members had several questions Tuesday.
At the regular board meeting Oct. 21, the board will be asked to approve several resolutions for trips totaling about $15,000 in expenses. The work-and-study agenda is online now at http://www.plainfieldnjk12.org/ and the agenda for the regular meeting, which will also include personnel matters, will be posted there in advance of the meeting, which will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at 1200 Myrtle Avenue.
--Bernice Paglia
The meeting took place at the new administration complex at 1200 Myrtle Ave. The board’s work-and-study agenda contained resolutions that would have awarded prescription and health care contracts to new providers, but the presenters said the competition spurred existing providers to come up with more favorable terms.
Mark Lawrie and Darcel Moreno of Willis HRH explained to the school board how seeking quotes on the plans resulted in Benecard Rx and Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield giving concessions. Proposed resolutions awarding the prescription plan to CIGNA Insurance and Bollinger Insurance were pulled and will not appear on the board’s agenda at the regular meeting on Oct. 21. The original providers will remain in place.
Lawrie referred to the district’s challenge as “stirring the pot,” a strategy that paid off.
Business Administrator/Board Secretary Gary Ottmann said the district spends almost $14 million per year on health costs. The reduction was finalized only on Tuesday in advance of the board meeting.
Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III described the proposed arrangement as the “same service, less cost.”
School board member Patricia Barksdale proclaimed herself “ecstatic” at the outcome. Member Lisa Logan Leach called for similar action on all professional services contracts, “so cost savings can go back to the classroom.”
Gallon said that could not happen for some very specialized contracts, because no competition exists. But he said as the opportunity comes up, some contracts may be eliminated and others will be subjected to competitive review.
The new scrutiny will counter the expectation of some providers that their contracts will automatically be reviewed, Gallon said. The measures are linked to Goal 3 of Gallon’s strategic plan for the next three years, “to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of business operations.”
Ottman gave a presentation Tuesday on another issue related to the business operations goal, strict state policies on travel by staff and board members. Those traveling to conferences or professional training sessions must do so only with prior board approval and will not get reimbursed until after they return. Ottmann read from sections of the New Jersey Administrative Code that say travel must be “educationally necessary and fiscally prudent” and that prohibit 18 items for reimbursement, including alcohol and car rentals. Travelers must obtain three airfare quotes over the internet before flying and cannot use travel agents, according to the new guidelines.
Ottmann said of the rules, “They’re new, they’re strict.”
The full set of rules was given to each board member prior to the discussion and members had several questions Tuesday.
At the regular board meeting Oct. 21, the board will be asked to approve several resolutions for trips totaling about $15,000 in expenses. The work-and-study agenda is online now at http://www.plainfieldnjk12.org/ and the agenda for the regular meeting, which will also include personnel matters, will be posted there in advance of the meeting, which will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at 1200 Myrtle Avenue.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 8:19 AM
3 Comments:
Has anyone pointed out to dr. gallon that his goals are simply not goals--they are merely "motherhood' statements that have no time elements and cannot be measured.
You should have attended the Town Hall meetings where the plan was presented to the public to point that out yourself. There have been several throughout Plainfield. The plan does have annual timelines and measures. I give kudos to Dr. Gallon. The State of the District address also provided a chance to see the work that has been planned and being done in the district.
My comment is for the last person who commented asking why didn't you attend the Town Hall meetings. I personally did attend a Town Hall meeting where Dr. Gallon verbally attacked a member that had shown up to the Town Hall meeting and asked a question that was not pertaining to the "agenda" for that night. Let me tell you I was appauled! BOE and Dr. Gallon make up these agendas and then only let you ask questions pertaining to that agenda. Meanwhile, they have already been in talks about this agenda for weeks prior to letting the community know what is going on, then when it finally comes out and you ask questions, you get told off and your question is either not answered properly or your told that it's a "stupid" question, so it doesn't get answered. So in saying this, when is a person supposed to bring up ligitimate questions on something that's not on the agenda? There isn't, because they really don't give a crap what we have to say or what we want, that's why they all need to be replaced!
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