No employee premium increase for 5th straight year as Purdue trustees approve 2024 health plans

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (Aug. 4) approved 2024 health plans, which will have no employee premium increase for the fifth straight year. The plans for 2024 align with the university’s strategic approach to health care and the Healthy Boiler Wellness Program, and they were designed as part of the ongoing pursuit of improving population health and controlling overall costs for employees and the university.

Updates for the 2024 plan year will be: 

• A modest increase in medical plan deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums on all three consumer-driven health plans to meet IRS requirements while continuing to create differentials among the three plan offerings and within network tiers. Outside of IRS requirements, deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums last increased in 2020.
• Expand the operation of the Center for Healthy Living at the Purdue Fort Wayne campus.
• Launch a telehealth medicine program, in conjunction with a health care navigation program, through the Center for Healthy Living.
• Launch the Healthy Boiler noncash incentive program to further encourage overall wellness and engagement with the various university benefits and partners.
• Develop and execute a physical therapy redirection strategy plan to further encourage the use of high-quality, low-cost direct-agreement partners.
• Renew the current short-term and long-term disability vendor contract with Guardian for three years.
• Renew the current life and accidental death and dismemberment vendor contract with Securian for five years.
• Renew the current contract with HSA Bank (medical savings account administrator) for three years with an annual wellness credit being provided to support the university’s Healthy Boiler incentive program.
• Premium rates for early retirees will increase by 5% – affecting approximately 250 early retirees who are on medical plans.

Overall university cost increases will continue to be significantly less than the national average. According to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the national average for university health care has grown nearly 6% annually since 2016, while Purdue has seen an average increase of only 1% annually. Purdue’s actions to actively manage its health plans have cumulatively saved the university over $148.5 million and saved its employees over $49.5 million. In appreciation for their actions to establish Purdue as a leader in delivering high-quality benefits with innovative population health solutions at the lowest possible costs, in 2022 all employees enrolled in a Purdue medical plan received a cash payment equal to two months of the average employee premium – a total of $3.3 million. 

Some 59% of Purdue employees are engaged in HealthSync, a groundbreaking network of high-performing health care providers dedicated to personalized, value-based care. The result has been a savings of $22.3 million since its implementation in 2020 through June 30, 2023. Purdue will continue evaluating options to further expand this network and incentivize the use of HealthSync network providers.

In 2013 Purdue established the Center for Healthy Living, using the patient-centered medical home approach to delivering high-quality, cost-effective primary care. The West Lafayette location has been operated by One-to-One Health since 2017 (with services expanded to Purdue Northwest in 2022), yielding $19.6 million in health care savings. 

Purdue’s focus on population health has resulted in 60% of employees and covered spouses completing their annual physical in 2022, the highest completion rate since the Healthy Boiler incentive program began in 2018. The completion rate was 39% in 2017. There also has been a significant increase in mammograms (72% in 2022 vs. 52% in 2017) and colonoscopies (60% in 2022 vs. 28% in 2018).

Employees will begin to receive information related to open enrollment 2024 via email the week of Aug. 7. Communication will continue to focus on members engaging with health care and more fully taking advantage of the various benefit programs Purdue offers.

Open enrollment for 2024 will take place beginning Oct. 24 and continuing through 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 7. Support will be available via presentations, one-on-one counseling, an online guide and a dedicated website. Employees are encouraged to evaluate all medical plan options and other benefits to ensure that they are selecting the best option for themselves and their family.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top 4 in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, with 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 12 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap, including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes, at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Writer: Tom Schott

Source: Candace Shaffer