MINUTES
COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
The Special Called Meeting of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was called
to order at 9:05 A.M., Tuesday, September 17, 2013, in the Council Chambers,
Second Floor of City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way, Columbus, Georgia.
Honorable Teresa Pike Tomlinson, Mayor presiding.
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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Tomlinson and Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Turner
Pugh were Councilors Mike Baker, Bruce Huff, Charles E. McDaniel, Jr. and Judy
W. Thomas. Councilor Evelyn Woodson arrived at 9:21 a.m. City Manager Isaiah
Hugley, City Attorney Clifton Fay and Deputy Clerk of Council Sandra Davis were
also present.
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ABSENT: Councilors R. Gary Allen, Jerry ?Pops? Barnes, Glenn Davis and Berry
Henderson were absent. Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington was also absent.
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INVOCATION: Offered by Rev. Gerald Parker, Jr. ? New Providence Baptist Church.
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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by students from Allen Elementary School.
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WORKSESSION AGENDA:
SHERIFF?S OFFICE BUDGET:
Mayor Tomlinson announced that Sheriff John Darr would not be present due
to a case pending in federal court; therefore, we would work with the Sheriff
to schedule another date for his presentation.
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CCG HEALTH & WELLNESS CENTER- UPDATE:
Human Resources Director Reather Hollowell approached the rostrum to
provide an update on the newly opened Health and Wellness Center. She
announced the vendor for the Health and Wellness Center is Transform Health.
She offered the following format of presentations to include an update on the
Health and Wellness Center; employee testimonies; update on healthcare reform;
healthcare fund budget impact and proposed changes with regards to health
insurance to begin January 1, 2014.
Ms. Allison Judge- Co-owner of Transform Health, appeared before the
Council to offer a progress report on the Health and Wellness Center using a
power point presentation and is provided below. (A copy of the presentation
was not provided during the meeting but listed as part of the agenda material):
Center Participation:
? Opened April 22, 2013
? Information provided through July 31st.
? Approximately 1054 eligible employees and dependents
? 50% have had at least one appointment visit
Center Utilization:
? 1636 Appointment slots available
? The first 90 days is based on 30 minutes appointments for new patient visits
? Average of 120% capacity
? Expected to return below 100% as new patient visits decline and more visits
are established patients
Patient Savings:
? Co-pays were between $20 - $50
? Clinic has no co-pay resulting in a savings to patients between $39,700 and
$99,250 based on 1985 office visits performed
Patient Savings Pharmacy:
? The Clinic has dispensed 2416 prescriptions since opening
? The generic co-pay would normally have been $15 (Some of the medications are
free)
? The Clinic has saved patients $36,000
Lab and Referral Savings:
? Lab tests performed- 3718
? Majority of these tests are free to the patient saving on office co-pays for
lab visits and additional testing fees
? Over 120 referrals to specialist with patient saving an average of $10 on
each referral
Center Health Plan Savings:
? Direct Savings
? Case Management Savings
? Risk Factor Savings
In conclusion, Ms. Judge shared information on wait time, reviewed patient
satisfaction surveys, pre-employment drug screen performed and would begin
seeing the worker?s compensation patients.
Councilor Huff recalled concerns that he has received in that employees
are not being allowed to have office visits during work hours. City Manager
Hugley responded that employees should be able to schedule visits during work
hours and not docked for time away from the job during their appointments. He
then asked to be notified if this is not happening.
Ms. Judge then spoke briefly on the patient satisfaction surveys at the
request of Councilor Thomas. There was a suggestion by Councilor Thomas to
allow anonymous surveys for the patients. City Manager Hugley recommended
posting the survey results on lotus notes for the employees to review.
At this time, City Manager Hugley was the first to speak of his extremely
pleasing experience at the Health and Wellness Center.
The following employees came forward to give a testimony on their positive
healthcare experience at the Health and Wellness Center: Amber Dykes- Columbus
Police Department, Community Reinvestment Director Amy Carabajal, Lionel
Haynes, Jr.- Financial Planning.
Human Resources Director Hollowell shared that a resolution would be
brought forward in September or October to renew the contract with Transform
Health that is due to end December 31, 2013. The contract with Transform
Health was determined to be for one-year with an option to renew for four
additional years.
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HEALTH REFORM UPDATE AND HEALTH INSURANCE PROPOSAL:
Mayor Tomlinson then recognized the presence of former Human Resources
Director Tom Barron, who was seated in the audience.
Ms. Kathy Showers, Northwestern Benefit Corporation, came forward to
provide a health reform update with a power point presentation and is listed as
follows: (A copy of the presentation was not provided during the meeting but
listed as part of the agenda material)
Affordable Care Act Design Changes:
? Annual Limits- Prohibition on annual limits associated with a medical plan;
there is no dollar limit on what an employee could incur on a medical plan
where the plan would not longer fund their claims; the city?s medical plans
have already been altered to accommodate this
? Pre-existing condition exclusions- There can be no denial for coverage for
pre-existing conditions prior to entering a health plan; no significant change
to city plan
? Dependent coverage for age 26
? Excessive waiting periods- The period of time a new hire has to wait to be
eligible for the health plan is limited to 90 days; the city plan currently has
a 31 day wait period
? Limits on cost sharing- Limits on the maximum out-of-pocket for someone to
incur during a plan year of $6,350 for individual and $12,700 for a family;
currently the city?s medical plans have limits that are well below the stated
maximums
At this time, Ms. Showers called on Ms. Mary Pozatek- Wellness Consultant
with Northwestern Benefit, to speak about the wellness incentives that impact
the plan.
Ms. Pozatek shared that the final wellness regulations for the Affordable
Care Act were announced on May 28, 2013 and take affect on January 1, 2014,
which has an affect on the plan. She continued with the power point
presentation as provided below:
Affordable Care Act Wellness Incentives:
? Tobacco usage - Employers must offer a reasonable alternative and upon
completion offered the lower premium
? Rewards - Currently the maximum permissible reward deferential is 20% to
increase to 30% and is allowed to go up to 50% of the total premium
At this time, Ms. Showers returned to conclude the power point
presentation and is listed as follows:
Other Healthcare Changes:
? Healthcare Market Place- Requires that CCG distribute notice to all employees
informing of Healthcare Reform Marketplace by October 1, 2013. (Federal
exchange being established in the State of Georgia to be up and running January
1, 2014 with open enrollment beginning October 1st)
? Employer Mandate Delayed
? Taxes and Fees
o PCORI/CER Fees - $1 per covered life
o Reinsurance Fee - $5.25 per member per month- total approximate cost of
$375,000 annually (based on current member count)
o Insurer Fee - 2.9% of premium
Finance Director Pam Hodge briefly discussed the budget impact with
regards to the proposed healthcare changes. She explained that with the plan
changes that were made in FY13 with no adjustments to the premiums that became
effective January 1, 2013, the healthcare fund had a balanced budget at the end
of FY13. She pointed out that we are still going through the audit, which may
cause some adjustments, but we are comfortable that we are balanced with the
healthcare fund for FY13.
She maintained that for FY14 and working with Northwestern Benefit, the
projection for healthcare cost is a $2 million shortfall where we are with the
budget. She explained that we have been working on proposed changes to the
plan and the employees? premiums to come close to the projected healthcare
costs. She pointed out that the proposed changes would not bring us to the $2
million shortfall but would come close.
At this time, Human Resources Director Hollowell returned to the rostrum
to add that the proposed changes were shared with the Employee Benefits
Committee members and the Retiree Benefit Committee:
Ms. Showers came forward to outline the proposed changes that would impact
the active employees and are as follows; collectively the proposed changes have
an estimated savings to the city of just over $1 million: (A copy of the
presentation was not provided during the meeting but listed as part of the
agenda material.)
2014 Proposed Benefit Changes 2013 Benefit Level
HMO OOP to $1,500/$3,000 $1,000/$2,000
HMO deductible to $500/$1,000 $200/$400
HMO copays to $30/$40 $20/$30
POS/LPPO OOP to $2,800/$5,600 $2,300/$4,600
POS/PPO deductible to $500/$1,000 $300/$600
POS/PPO copays to $30/$40 $20/$30
No changes to the Health and Wellness Center Plan
? No changes to the Health and Wellness Center Plan
? HMO Plan
o Increase the out-of-pocket maximum limit from $1,000 for single and $2,000
for family to $1,500 for single and $3,000 for family
o Deductible- increase $200 for single and $400 for family to $500 for single
and $1,000 for family
o Co-pay- Increase $20 for Primary Care and $30 for Specialist to $30 for
Primary Care and $40 Specialist
Councilor Thomas asked if any consideration has been given to changes in
the benefits within the plan instead of increasing the employees contribution,
at which time, City Manager Hugley responded that the staff and Northwestern
Benefits have not looked at reducing the level of healthcare benefits that are
provided to the employees.
Councilor Thomas then requested that the staff review the healthcare plan
and what is included in the plan to consider changes in the level of benefits.
In response to Councilor Baker regarding the Accumulation Rules, Ms.
Showers explained that the Accumulation Rules would be effective January 1,
2015 for the city, and would be an additional potential cost to the city
because there would be a true limit at which the city would stop collecting
co-pay for services from employees, which is currently not in place.
Human Resources Director Hollowell cautioned that open enrollment is
scheduled for the second week in October. She explained that we could get the
information to the Employee Benefits Committee for the members to have meetings
with employees, as well as, work with Northwestern to look at benefit options
before the end of the month. She pointed out that when we go into open
enrollment, these changes would have to already be made that would become
effective January 1, 2014.
City Manager Hugley said that open enrollment would be delayed; since, we
have done it before, and it appears we would need to do that for this year.
At this time, Ms. Showers continued with the power point presentation to
share the proposed changes to the premium rates that were included in the
handout and displayed on the overhead projector. (A copy of the presentation
was not provided during the meeting but listed as part of the agenda material)
RETIREE PLAN UPDATE:
Ms. Flowers also outlined proposed changes to the retiree plan with the
use of a power point presentation. (A copy of the presentation was not
provided during the meeting but listed as part of the agenda material)
? Out of Pocket- from $500 to $750
? Deleted 5% coinsurance for catastrophic coverage
? Increase monthly premium by 8.37%
Why Ask Employees to Pay More:
? Cost of healthcare rising nationally
? Healthcare Reform changes- Added taxes and fees
? Projected $2 mil budget shortfall
? Long term cost sharing strategy of 25/75 employee/employer ratio
When Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh asked if the retirees are agreeable to
these changes, Human Resources Director Hollowell acknowledged that some of the
members were present this morning. She then responded by saying we have met
with them three times and they have met and presented the changes to the
Retiree Association and are agreeable to the proposed changes.
Finance Director Hodge came forward to make some final comments on the
budget impact as it relates to the healthcare plan. City Manager Hugley said
that we would delay open enrollment and determine the recommended delay date
and ask the Employee Benefits Committee to meet with the employees and once
those meetings are concluded, we would come back to Council with a
recommendation.
Councilor Thomas then asked to be provided with a copy of the medical,
dental and vision plans. She would review those plans to see what suggestions
she could offer to keep the employees who are in the HMO Plan, who have a
family from having an additional $1,000 a year deductible paid and additional
premiums.
Mayor Tomlinson then suggested an update to the Council on the efforts
being made related to the Health and Wellness Center to increase enrollment;
so, the employees would not be impacted in any way by some of the discussions
we have had today.
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LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:
Mayor Tomlinson shared changes to the legislative agenda by stating that
we are no longer going to our legislative delegation without a preliminary
approved legislative agenda for them to consider. She said there are
approximately five or six items; however, we are not scheduled to discuss them
until September 24, 2013 but this gives the Council an opportunity to hear a
brief explanation on each.
City Manager Hugley announced the Hometown Connection Meeting scheduled
for October 1, 2013 at the Trade Center from 11:00 am to 1:15 pm. He then
outlined the following seven proposed legislative agenda items and briefly
explained each and are listed as follows: (The list is provided in the
information Section of the Council?s Agenda packet).
1. OLOST - Hotel/Motel Exemptions
2. Military Retiree State Tax Exemptions
3. Scrap Metal Processors
4. Sales Tax Accountability and Transparency User Safeguard (STATUS) Act 2014:
5. Coroner Office - Fees
6. Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
7. Technology Fee
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NOTE: Councilor McDaniel left the meeting during this portion of the
proceeding with the time being 11:16 a.m.
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In conclusion, City Manager Hugley advised that we could add or delete
from the list. He advised that we would come back to the Council on September
24, 2013 with resolutions for approval of the 2014 Legislative Agenda.
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REFERRALS:
The following referrals were made by members of Council and are listed as
follows:
Have the staff to research to determine if there is a sunset clause on
other cities in the State as it relates to the technology fee. Also, verify
that the other communities are already charging that $25.00 fee. (Request of
Mayor Pro Tem Turner Pugh)
Send a reminder to the members of Council; in particular, the absent
members of Council asking them to review the legislative agenda list. (Request
of Councilor Baker)
Mayor Tomlinson requested to be provided with a link that could be sent to
the absent members of Council with regards to the discussion today on the
healthcare costs and proposed changes.
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TRI-CITY LATINO FESTIVAL:
Councilor Woodson reminded and thanked everyone that supported the
Tri-City Latino Festival. She announced the Tri-City Latino Festival would be
held, on Saturday, September 21, 2013, at the Civic Center. The 5K Run would
begin at 10:00 a.m., the main stage would start at 12:00 and the first Latino
Princess would be crowned.
She shared that one of the high points is that WHINSEC at Fort Benning and
Carver High School have developed a partnership to educate the children and one
another on the difference in the Latin community. She thanked Mayor Tomlinson,
Mayor Eddie Lowe in Phenix City, Alabama and Ft. Benning for the guidance and
support. She also thanked the Administration and various staff members.
She invited everyone to come and enjoy the festivities and fellowship with
the community.
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EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS:
Councilor Woodson requested that staff look into developing software to
create a database to send notices to citizens that provide their email
addresses through the city?s website, for instance; public hearings, car tag
renewals, etc.
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MOBILE DEVICES:
Councilor Woodson requested an update on some information previously
provided that allows a citizen to download an application to report a problem
through their mobile devices.
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HEALTH AND WELLNESS CENTER:
Mayor Tomlinson asked that Human Resources Director Hollowell approach the
rostrum to give the employees some information on how to join the Health and
Wellness Center. Human Resources Director Hollowell explained the process by
stating that employees could contact Human Resources to complete the one-page
application or fill out the form located in the database and send it to Human
Resources and the process would begin immediately.
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With there being no other business to come before this Council, Mayor Pro
Tem Turner Pugh made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Councilor Woodson and
carried unanimously by those five members present with Councilor McDaniel being
absent for the vote and Councilors Allen, Barnes, Davis and Henderson being
absent from the meeting with the time being 11:36 a.m.
Sandra T. Davis, CDMC
Deputy Clerk of Council
Council of Columbus, Georgia
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