Drafter
Clerk 04/04/2005
title
A MOTION approving the business case of the Benefit Health Information Project as approved by the project review board.
body
WHEREAS, national health care costs in this country are skyrocketing, approaching a national crisis, and
WHEREAS, King County, like other employers in the region, state and nation, is facing an urgent need to be able to provide affordable, available quality health care to employees while effectively containing the rise in employee health care costs, and
WHEREAS, King County the employee benefits budget is expected to increase eleven percent or more per year for at least the next five years, and
WHEREAS, to address this critical issue, an internal county team conducted a focused and comprehensive research effort to seek best practice approaches from research institutes as well as actual applications, and
WHEREAS, in December 2003, King County Executive Ron Sims created the Health Care Advisory Task Force ("HAT Force"), and
WHEREAS, the council adopted the Initial Findings report of the HAT Force by Motion 11890, and
WHEREAS, the report adopted by Motion 11890 endorsed the county's internal benefits and employee health strategy based on best practice approaches and provided a number of recommendations including: engage employees as informed health care consumers by providing education and tools they can use to improve their and their families' personal health status; provide consistent, meaningful, accurate and simple information on benefits administration and the effect that employee decisions can have on costs; provide employees with information and tools to assist with understanding health conditions, making decisions and successfully carrying out self-care actions and obtaining health; research innovative plan designs that create incentives to improve care and reduce costs; create benefit designs that motivate beneficiaries to choose identified quality providers, actively participate with their providers in their own health care, participate in wellness and prevention activities and manage chronic health conditions, and
WHEREAS, the joint labor management committee has negotiated a new benefit framework for 2007-2009 called Health Incentives that incorporates the recommendations of the Health Advisory Task Force and industry best practices, and
WHEREAS, the Benefit Health Information Project was developed to respond to the enrollment needs of the 2007-2009 benefit plan, and
WHEREAS, the 2005 adopted budget included a proviso requiring the executive to submit to the council for its review and approval by motion a business case for the Benefit Health Information Project that has been reviewed and approved by the project review board, and
WHEREAS, a business case for the Benefits Health Information Project was developed that provides a description of and justification for a recommended solution that will allow the county to successfully implement the new plan designs of the Healthy Incentives program for the 2007 plan year and beyond, and
WHEREAS, in its meetings of March 8 and 11, 2005, the project review board analyzed the Benefit Health Information Project business case, and
WHEREAS, at its meeting of March 11, 2005, the project review board approved the Benefit Health Information Project Business Case, and
WHEREAS, the county executive has approved the business case of the Benefit Health Information Project and has presented the report to the council in conformance with the proviso;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
The business case of the Benefit Health Information Project, Attachment A to this motion, is hereby approved.