[43] in UA Exec
Re: Task Force Report: Medical copay
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Hawkinson)
Sat Sep 19 04:51:51 2009
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:51:42 -0400
From: John Hawkinson <jhawk@MIT.EDU>
To: Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@mit.edu>
Cc: UA Executive Board <ua-exec@mit.edu>, CSL <ua-csl@mit.edu>,
medlinks-discuss@mit.edu
In-Reply-To: <9d4f87ed0909190130y17456038xca798ada2925b27e@mail.gmail.com>
Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@MIT.EDU> wrote on Sat, 19 Sep 2009
at 04:30:27 -0400 in <9d4f87ed0909190130y17456038xca798ada2925b27e@mail.gmail.com>:
> Yes. Thanks for filling in with better details, jhawk. The questions still
> stand, of course... Anyone?
Your question was phrased such that I could not determine your point was.
(Not that I know the answer.) Perhaps you could be a *lot* more explicit
and not assume everyone has context; I don't recall seeing any email
to ua-exec and ua-csl is no longer a public list, and nothing in the
most recent UA minutes. Could someone explain the question, please?
So, for the benefit of everyone else in the same boat as me, the only
mentions of "copay" (or "co-pay") in the task force report were these
3 items (all from p.68 of the PDF, p.8 of the table; Administrative
HR/Benefits group):
ADD COPAY FOR SERVICES RECEIVED AT MIT MEDICAL FACILITY
Currently, there is no co-pay. Recommendation is based on a copay for
same visit type in commercial plan. Change will be needed to comply
with Mental Health Parity Act (effective 1/1/2010). The savings
potential is estimated at $600,000 per year, based on 60,000 visits at
$10 copay.
Recommended Action: ASSIGN: VPHR
CONSOLIDATE CURRENT PLAN OFFERINGS TO ONE MULTIPLE TIER OFFERING
WITH ALL INSURED RISK IN SINGLE POOL
Redesign current healthcare program to consolidate current plan
offerings to one multiple tier offering with all insured risk in one
pool. Estimated annual savings potential is $200,000.
Recommended Action: ASSIGN: VPHR
LEVERAGE EXCESS CAPACITY AT MIT MEDICAL
Provide financial incentives, through copay differentials, to
encourage all medical plan participants to utilize specified services
at MIT Medical by self-referring. MIT Medical currently has excess
capacity and can provide these services at a lower cost than the
commercial plan networks. Services include mammograms, EKG, stress
tests, and routine lab panels. The estimated annual savings potential
in combination with #5 below is $500,000.
Recommended Action: ASSIGN: VPHR Administrative
It's perhaps also worth pointing out that Kettyle emphasized that
MIT medical doesn't really like this situation:
"We know from studies on copays that the cost of collecting them is
nontrivial. There is a significant cost we will incur to collect
copays. Having cash around is not something we're used to. We're not
thrilled about it. We are also not thrilled about barriers to
care. The most most powerful effect [of copays] is to decrease
utilization, not to increase revenue. It's unclear now this will play
out."
--jhawk@mit.edu News Editor
John Hawkinson The Tech +1 617 797 0250
http://tech.mit.edu
> On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 4:20 AM, John Hawkinson <jhawk@mit.edu> wrote:
>
> Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@MIT.EDU> wrote on Sat, 19 Sep 2009
> at 04:12:12 -0400 in <
> 9d4f87ed0909190112k9682c64k37ec970b07f1735b@mail.gmail.com>:
>
> > So I went to the first open forum about the Institute Wide Planning
> > Task Force report, and this issue (which has been loosely assigned
> > to CSL) was brought up. Liz, please correct me if I'm wrong (I
> > didn't take notes), but I believe there was a doctor there from MIT
> > Medical who spoke on the issue,
