WEA Trust: Walworth County School districts get creative with health insurance purchasing options
Contact: Michelle Berryman, WEA Trust, Telephone: (608) 276-4000, (608) 206-9204—Cell
E-mail: mberryman@weatrust.com
Walworth…Six school districts in Walworth County found an innovative way to provide employees health insurance while working with longstanding partners to save taxpayers money. With the help of their insurance broker and a Wisconsin not-for-profit insurer, the local school districts–Geneva J4, Genoa City J2, Linn J4, Linn J6, Walworth J1, and Williams Bay–formed an insurance purchasing consortium effective July 1, 2012.
The savings realized by the districts who joined the consortium offered by the WEA Trust was nearly $200,000. This represents a savings of over six percent for the districts.
“Our goal of joining together in an insurance purchasing consortium allowed us to collectively increase the numbers of insured and spread out our risk. This action provided the opportunity to negotiate a solid, cost-effective plan for next year and to create stability for future renewals. We will also continue to reduce claims with a positive wellness solution offered by the Trust. Ultimately, our goal is to continue to direct all additional resources to the classroom and focus on a great education for our students,” said Bill Lehner, Superintendent of the Genoa City Joint School District.
The consortium was facilitated by Jeff Ireland, Account Executive for M3 Insurance, and created through an open bid process where five carriers had the opportunity to bid. The goal of the bid process was to determine which carrier could offer the best networks, service, and premium rates.
“The WEA Trust stood out to the members of the consortium because they offered unique services including extensive wellness options, great service, extensive experience with shared purchasing, and the best possible rates available. It was easy to make the recommendation because of how competitive the WEA Trust was in this situation, and how committed they were to the process,” said Ireland.
