NOVEMBER 2000 - Retiree Survey Is Key To Plan Design - For the past several months, Association officers have been working closely with officials from the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) to develop a dental plan for retirees. As members now know, the Association was successful in securing a new law, in this year’s budget, that requires the GIC to design a retiree pay-all dental plan, with a target implementation date of July 1, 2001.

As of press time in mid October, the Association, in conjunction with the GIC, is about to mail a survey to some 5,000 members seeking their input as to the design of the plan. Chances are that those members involved will have received their survey by the time this publication is received.

According to GIC officials, it is important that those retirees who are surveyed take the time to respond. They point out that this is a somewhat unprecedented opportunity to take part in constructing an insurance plan from the ground up.

The consultants with BBP are trying to determine exactly what retirees want in their dental plan. More importantly, it’s necessary to know what retirees are willing to afford in a monthly premium. A danger exists, whereby a plan is proposed that contains great coverage, but at a very high monthly premium. This could result in many retirees not being able to afford the insurance.

At the very minimum, enrollment in the retiree dental plan must encompass at least 25% of the GIC pool of 58,000 retirees. If at least 14,500 retirees do not join the plan, then this type of coverage will not be possible.

"I sincerely hope that our members will take the time to fill out the dental survey and mail it in. This is the only way the GIC can get an accurate read on what type of plan will work best," explains White. "Members may not have this opportunity to contribute directly in the process again in the near future."

While members continue to wait for the details on what the coverage will include, the GIC and BBP have begun to evaluate similar dental plans offered to retirees in other states and private sector employees. This process allows the insurance officials to determine what works for other jurisdictions, then apply those steps here.

Once the retiree survey is complete, the GIC can begin to apply the data collected from our members to the various plan models they have constructed. That way an accurate picture can be produced as to what our Retiree Dental Plan will look like when it is offered next year.

"The GIC is collecting as much information as they can to build a quality dental plan that is affordable for our members. Our goal has always been to develop a comprehensive dental plan, that covers most procedures," said Association Legislative Liaison Shawn Duhamel. "However, certain procedures like orthodontics may be excluded from the coverage in order to control the cost. The important thing is that this process is finally moving ahead."