October 12, 2005

Dear UW-River Falls Community Members:

I know that many of you have been justly concerned about the recently-released changes in the health care insurance available to us.  I share your concern, and wanted you to know that we have been vigorously pursuing answers to our questions and alternative scenarios since we first learned of these changes.

Mary Halada, Kathy Schultz and Joy DeWyre have all been actively seeking clarifications.  I have discussed our serious sense of the situation with senior administrators of the UW System and a leading legislator.  I then sought clarification from the Division of Insurance Benefits for the Employee Trust Fund (ETF).  As we saw our Health Fair approaching, I requested that a representative come to River Falls and respond to our questions.  Yesterday Mr. Bill Kox, Director of Health Benefits and Insurance Plans, participated in the Health Fair.  Many of you were there seeking understanding and alternatives to the new plans which either cost more or cover less.  I met with Mr. Kox after the Fair for an extended period reviewing many of the questions that some of you have raised.

Not all of our questions have been answered.  We have requested the contact information for those who might be able to respond, and our Human Resources office will have that information within the next few days.

After all of the efforts mentioned and more, I am not optimistic that these new plans and options can be revised.  For some of our fellow UW-River Falls colleagues, the increased cost to retain the same benefit represents a financial challenge.  At this point we have been told that it is not possible to divide the monthly premium over two checks for those paid every two weeks.  We are seeking additional reasons why this request cannot be accommodated.  I have also strongly requested that Mr. Kox investigate the possibility of lowering the monthly premium for some of our personnel for whom this increase is a genuine hardship.  He said that he would, and we will communicate his response as soon as it is received.

I sincerely thank all of you who directly and professionally presented your questions to Mr. Kox while he was a guest on our campus.  Unfortunately, he returns to Madison with a less than optimum impression of our community due to an isolated, individual expression of unprofessional and rude behavior.  None of us, nor our collective interest in this matter, was well served by this incident. 

We will identify the effective channels to voice our continuing request for useful insight and for changes in the plans as presented.  Focus and coordination will prove more effective than random e-mails and phone calls.  Please check with Human Resources for those additional contact numbers by the end of this week.

Sincerely,

Don Betz