City of Holyoke Health Benefit Trust Committee Meeting January 13, 2025

City of Holyoke Health Trust Meeting

January 13, 2025

City Hall, Old Tax Collector’s Office

The meeting was called to order by Quentin Donohue at 5:05 PM

In attendance: 

PEC Representatives: Joe O’Connor- Retirees, Chris Butler-Fire Dept, Chris Adams- UFCW

City Representatives: Tanya Wdowiak-City Auditor, Sean Mangano- HPS CFO

Others: Quentin Donohue – chair, Steve Corbin – Dowd Insurance, Kelly Curran – HR Director, Lisa Ball – City Solicitor, Bill Grinnell – Webber and Grinnell, Jenny McKay – Webber and Grinnell, Michael Welnecki – Webber and Grinnell, Becka Sutter – Dowd, Rory Casey – Treasurer, Kirk Mackey – Dowd

Agenda:

Webber and Grinnell

• Mr. Grinnell read a statement (get copy of statement) in regards to the board’s decision to move forward with Dowd insurance alone. Mr. Grinnell’s statement advocated for bringing them back to support the city in a co-broker relationship with Dowd.
• Ms. McKay outlined the benefits of Webber and Grinnell. Ms. McKay outlined some of the unique aspects of their program. She described their technology and ability to identify medical spend waste. 
• Ms. McKay outlined the other municipalities that Alera group covers – said MA is unique because of GIC and MIIA. They do work with Marlborough. Alera group advises the GIC itself, helps them with working rates. Alera is the sole advisor.
• Mr. Welnicki described his experience working with Dowd along with recommendations for next steps.
• Trustee Adams asked about the timing of this visit from Webber and Grinnell? Mr. Grinnell said that the previous advisor Maureen handled the account very closely.
• Chair Donohue talked about the importance of Holyoke and that Webber and Grinnell had been sold to a national firm and that he wasn’t aware of it until recently.

Open Meeting Law Review

• Solicitor Ball reviewed the open meeting law guide.
• All members need to sign certification that we have received the open meeting law procedures.
• A discussion occurred on the parliamentary procedure for the board meetings. The board will review the trust for governance rules and revert to Robert’s rules where guidance is needed.

Broker Update

• HR Director Curran gave an update on the YMCA enrollment. Will be working with the schools to increase awareness of the program. No hard deadline but will reevaluate in three months. 
• Trustee Adams asked about the predictive modeling diagnosis in potential high claimants. Mr. Corbin explained what that service is and what some of the categories mean.
• Finance Director Mangano asked about the stop loss point and what the annual cost was for the $350K reinsurance level. Mr. Corbin said they would provide the annual cost.
• Trustee Butler asked about the amount of high claimants in comparison to the past. Mr. Corbin responded that the numbers are still low but will grow.
• Mr. Corbin reviewed the High Cost Claimant Report, PillarRX report, Medex Premium and Enrollment Report, Medical Claims Report
• Discussion on the various reports around the data and how it aligns across reports.
• The board discussed the funds that are to be transferred into the newly established health insurance trust fund.

 Approval of Minutes

• No minutes to approve.

Scheduling Upcoming Meetings

• March 24th at 5PM in the Old Tax Collectors Office
  • Follow up with the water department

MOTION: Trustee Butler made a motion to request a representative of the water department to attend the next meeting. Trustee Adams seconded

MOTION: Trustee Butler made a motion to adjourn.  Trustee O’Connor seconded.  Motion carried unanimously. 

The meeting adjourned at 7:02 PM

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