Faculty Benefits Committee Meeting

Minutes, May 6, 2003

3:00 – 4:30

 

The following committee members were present: Dale Atkins, Michael Chang, Chuck Donbaugh, Michael Elliott, Blair Funderburk, Marc Goetschalckx, John Grovenstein, and Gayle Warren.

Minutes of Meeting

The minutes of the February 11th meeting were approved.

New Life Insurance Plan

The rollout of the new MetLife voluntary life insurance plan has gone smoothly. More than enough employees signed up to meet the MetLife minimum. The old ReliaStar plan will now be dropped.

Long Term Care Insurance

Blair Funderburk led us in a discussion of long term care insurance.

Long term care insurance is becoming of increasing concern to some Georgia Tech employees. We need to investigate the viability of offering this type of insurance, as well as the options for what type of insurance should be offered.

The market for long term care insurance is maturing. The plans are becoming clearer and costs are stabilizing. Six major insurance companies currently write LTC insurance. These include:

§         MetLife

§         John Hancock (does not have local representation)

§         UnumProvident

§         CNA

§         General Electric Capital Assurance Company

§         Lincoln Benefit Life

LTC plans can either be reimbursement plans (where the policy holder is reimbursed for expenses) or indemnity plans (where the policy holder receives a specific insurance benefit if the policy holder requires LTC). Inflation riders are usually attached to these policies. Inflation can be calculated as either a simple or compound variable.

LTC benefits are provided when the policy holder needs help with at least two of six activities of daily living. These activities include bathing, dressing, eating, continence, toileting or transferring. LTC benefits are also provided when the policy holder needs help because the policy holder is cognitively impaired.

The Benefits Committee will present a final draft of the Benefits Comparison Analysis at the first meeting in the fall, for presentation in the Annual Report. LTC insurance will be taken up next year.