Title
HealthEngine Agreement
History
Several years ago, the Village adopted a health benefit strategy that emphasized consumerism, wellness, and choice. In an effort to further avail village employees who receive health benefits to marketplace information, the village is proposing to enter a license agreement with HealthEngine, LLC of Chicago, IL. HealthEngine is a health benefit “transparency vendor” whose goal is to provide marketplace pricing transparency and, ultimately, price discounts. As a result, HealthEngine earns its revenue by sharing 50% of the avoided health benefit cost as normally negotiated between the Village’s health carrier and the health provider. This is a particularly attractive tool for employees participating in a high deductible health plan, as it enables employees to save on pre-deductible costs. The village benefits by paying less toward claims if savings can be found by the employee.
This is a voluntary program for employees. They would choose to enroll privately with HealthEngine, and the Village has no cost outlay. By aligning the economic interests of the vendor, the employee, and the Village, the objective is to exact additional health benefit savings by offering employees a marketplace tool for finding better cost information for health services.
If approved, the program will begin with the FY2015 health benefit plan year. Staff will begin working with HealthEngine staff on a timeline for rollout, introduction to employees, and education on how to use the web-based tool. A representative of HealthEngine will be present to outline the key components of the proposed program.
On December 1, 2014, this item was reviewed and approved by the Finance Committee and referred to the Board for approval
Financial Impact
None
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve the proposed license agreement with HealthEngine, LLC,