WHO WE ARE
Our organization started as a pilot program within the West Bay Collaborative in 1993. Due to the success of the program, the pilot program grew into a separate and independent non-profit organization renamed WB COMMUNITY HEALTH in 1995. For the 2010-2011 year, we serve 19 school and municipal members with a total of approximately 9,500 employees/retirees covered under our plan and revenues will be in excess of $115 million dollars for the 2010-11 year. WBCH is owned and managed by its members.
HOW WE OPERATE
WBCH does not pool member funds and each member has a separate account into which that member’s monthly payments are deposited and against which that member’s expenses are charged. Members pay a monthly working rate which is set by WBCH based on the individual member’s experience. If a member has a good claims year and their account has a surplus, those surplus funds remain in the member’s account and are used to keep the following year’s premium increase lower. If the member experiences a bad claims year and their account has a deficit, the result is a higher premium increase in the following year to cover the deficit and the projected following year claims. Funds from one member are not used to pay claims from another member since each member remains responsible for all their own claims and expenses at all times.
HOW ARE WE MANAGED
WBCH is a non-profit corporation managed by a Board of Directors that consists of one board position from each school district or municipality that is a member. That Board elects officers of the corporation from the Board membership and the Board meets regularly to conduct the business of the organization according to the bylaws of WBCH. Currently the Board employs two employees, an Executive Director and an Assistant Executive Director and we utilize an accounting firm for our daily financial transactions. We hire an independent public accounting firm to conduct an annual audit of all of our financial transactions.
New members would be asked to designate an appointee to the WBCH Board and serve as that member’s representative.
STOP-LOSS INSURANCE
WBCH offers stop-loss insurance through an independent stop-loss insurance provider to our members at a highly competitive rate. Our member can select various stop loss attachment points and can obtain either specific or aggregate coverage. We are prepared to assist any new member with addressing their specific needs in the area of stop-loss coverage.
CONTRACT PERIOD
The contract year for WBCH is from July 1st to June 30th annually. Members can withdraw from the program at the end of any contract year provided they give a 90 day written notice of their intention to withdraw. There are no exit fees or penalties by either WBCH or Blue Cross if a member wishes to withdraw. Members may have to pay an administrative fee to Blue Cross for two months after they withdraw for the processing of claims that occurred prior to the withdrawal date.
MEMBER EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS
Each member negotiates their own employee contracts directly with their collective bargaining units and WBCH will administer the employee benefit requirements negotiated by each member. We will assist any member with cost impact information regarding plan design changes if any member requests such assistance.
WB COMMUNITY HEALTH MANAGEMENT
WHY JOIN WB COMMUNITY HEALTH?
WBCH has been very successful in negotiating lower medical insurance administrative costs for our members since our inception in 1993. Combined with the very competitive rates we have been able to obtain for stop-loss insurance, we have been able to save our members millions of dollars in health care premiums over the years. We are looking to expand our membership at this time for a number of reasons. First, we believe that, with a larger membership, we will be able to negotiate even better rates in the future. Since we understand the challenges and difficulties that face all Rhode Island municipalities and school districts and the tremendous pressure to control all costs, especially employee benefit costs such as health care and dental care, we know that we will be able to continue to provide significant savings for our members while we expand the services that we provide.
MEMBERSHIP AS OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
Chariho Regional School District
Coventry Town
Coventry School Department
Cranston School Department
East Greenwich School Department
East Providence School Department
Exeter/West Greenwich School Department
Foster/Glocester Regional School Department
Foster Town
Foster School Department
Glocester School Department
Narragansett Town
Narragansett School Department
Scituate Town
Scituate School Department
South Kingstown Town
South Kingstown School Department
City of Warwick
Warwick Public Schools
DENTAL PROGRAM
In addition to our health insurance program, WBCH also offers a dental self insurance program based on a fixed monthly administration fee with Delta Dental of Rhode Island. Members can choose to join this program and take advantage of our large group purchasing power and achieve additional savings for their municipality of school district.
GOING FORWARD
We invite school districts and municipalities from around the state to join with us as we go forward and work together in partnership to find ways to control costs while still maintaining quality medical insurance programs for our employees. We believe the foundation of our program is strength in numbers. We currently offer significant cost savings for our members and we believe that we can provide even greater cost savings and efficiencies in the future with new services developed through large volume purchasing contracts.
We believe that there is significant value to self-managing our own programs since our members know best what their needs are and that we can provide effective and efficient program options for each member while taking advantage of volume purchasing agreements.
HOW TO CONTACT WBCH
Please feel free to contact us if you would like any additional information or have any questions about WB Community Health. We can be reached as follows:
Robert W. Dooley
Executive Director
WB Community Health
10 Teakwood Drive
Coventry, R. I. 02816
(401) 644-5037
dooleyr@verizon.net
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