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Wednesday,
April 7, 2004 |
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Plan
in the works to reduce budget
School
officials have a plan to reduce increasing insurance costs
in the budget.
By
Marco Lopez
Staff Reporter
Administrators are finalizing negotiations with more than
20 other schools to create a corporation that would reduce
increasing insurance costs for TCU next year, Vice Chancellor
for Finance and Administration Carol Campbell said Tuesday.
“Insurance costs have had a double-digit increase
in this year’s budget,” Campbell told Staff
Assembly members. “Over 20 individual colleges would
come together to come up with a program to save money.”
Campbell said negotiations to create the Collegiate Association
Resource of the Southwest began almost a year ago with
schools such as Abilene Christian University, University
of Dallas and University of St. Thomas, among others.
John Weis, vice chancellor for human resources, said insurance
costs could increase approximately 6 percent next year
if TCU joins the corporation, but if administration officials
do not approve the negotiation, employees could see an
increase of 14 to 20 percent instead in premiums, he said.
Weis said the corporation would be comprised of solid
health care administrators and providers that would help
stabilize insurance costs for a long term. Schools in
the negotiation would get wholesale insurance rates because
approximately 27 institutions are planning to join the
corporation, he said.
“TCU would have the largest national network of health
providers available,” Weis said. TCU would get guaranteed
insurance rates for three years and no more than a 10
percent increase in rates for two more years afterward,
he said.
Campbell said after the negotiation is closed, the corporation
would try to recruit more institutions to get even better
rates.
Staff Assembly Chairman David Grebel said TCU would be
able to spend money used to pay insurance benefits in
other areas of the budget.
“This is a great opportunity because it would reduce
the increasing insurance costs,” Grebel said. “It
would also free money for salaries or other compensation
areas.”
Grebel said Campbell and Weis have gone out of their way
to help reduce the insurance costs.
Campbell said school officials have about two weeks left
to decide if TCU is going to participate in the corporation.
She said TCU would begin participating in January 2005.
Weis said all the member schools would own a piece of
the corporation. TCU would be the largest institution
in the negotiation and Campbell would be a member of the
board of directors and represent the university, he said.
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