Letter From Mayor Bill White

Dear Employees and Retirees:                                                                                     May 2005

Once again, the City of Houston is proud to offer a health plan that provides you access to the highest quality health care on more affordable terms than most, if not all, large employers.

We are fortunate to live in a city with state-of-the-science medical facilities and doctors. As you are aware, health-care costs are skyrocketing. In the past decade alone, costs have risen two to three times faster than inflation. These increases exceeded the city’s revenues.

We were determined to keep your health plan affordable without compromising quality. So we spent a lot of time in negotiations. It paid off when we were able to cut the cost by almost one-half of what was originally proposed at the start of negotiations, while never sacrificing quality or accessibility.

An overview of changes planned for the May 2005 open enrollment is as follows:

• In FY06, the health plan will cost about $225 million for employees, retirees and their dependents.
• The City’s contribution will increase by over $10 million, shouldering 78 percent instead of the previous 80 percent, of the overall cost. Participants will contribute 22 percent.
• Well-woman and well-man annual exams will have a $0 copayment in the PPO.
• There will be an increase in copayments for seeing a specialist, going from $20 to $45 in the HMO, and $30 to $50 in the PPO.
• To offset costs, non-sedating antihistamines like Zyrtec, Allegra and Clarinex, as well as drugs like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, will no longer be covered.

There’s great news for Medicare-covered retirees. Two exciting new cost-saving Medicare Advantage Plans will be offered on May 1. If enrolled, these plans can reduce monthly premiums by 85 percent to 97 percent, while providing the quality health care to which you’ve become accustomed. Medicare-covered retirees will receive special enrollment packets describing the TexanPlus and Texas HealthSpring plans around mid-March. The Human Resources Department staff will be available to answer questions.

We’ll keep fighting to provide you the highest-quality, most affordable health plan.
Thank you for the hard work you do every day. It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your mayor.