Hutzley's Letter for the Next Two Posts

To Colgate Employees:

Colgate University will be engaging in a Dependent Eligibility Verification Review of our medical and dental insurance plans, as a measure to ensure only those eligible for coverage are on our plans.  In January 2014, the University moved to a self-insured model for our health plan, with dental having been self-insured for many years. Being self-insured means all claims are funded by the university. The funding source for claims includes premiums collected from employees, as well as Colgate’s designated contributions. Future premiums for these plans are determined based on the claims utilization of our employees and their dependents.  We have retained the services of The Bonadio Group, an independent CPA Consulting firm, to conduct this review.     

In the next two weeks, a letter will be sent to the home address of employees and retirees with dependents on the Colgate medical and/or dental plan. Employees with single coverage will not be contacted.  The letter will request documentation in support of each of the dependents listed on your policy.  Included will be a detailed description of the requirements to be an eligible dependent under our health/dental plan and the type of documentation required to support their eligibility.  Employees will submit all documentation in a confidential and secure manner.  All documents will be destroyed six months following the completion of the verification review.  Employees will be required to respond to the request for information with the appropriate documentation as outlined in the letter. 

This type of review is a common practice that helps an organization verify plan compliance regarding applicable regulations.  We are looking to identify situations where employees have dependents covered through their healthcare plans that may not be aware they are no longer eligible under our plan or did not realize they needed to contact Human Resources with the change of status.  The end goal is to contain costs for all employees and retirees on future healthcare premiums and coverage, something that is increasingly important, as healthcare costs continue to rise in today’s economy. 

We appreciate your cooperation in this important initiative.  Please feel free to contact Amy Ryan, Director of Benefits in the Human Resources Department, if you have any questions.

Brian Hutzley

Vice President for Finance and Administration