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After hearing presentations from five finalists, Brownsville Independent School District trustees named United Healthcare as the third-party administrator for the district’s $54 million self-funded health insurance plan and authorized the administration to negotiate a contract.
The decision at a specially called board of trustees meeting Friday means United Healthcare will administer BISD’s healthcare plan for a three-year term, with two one-year renewals also possible.
The vote was 7-0. The other finalists were Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Frontier Direct Care and Texas Health Benefits Pool. Each gave a 10-minute presentation, with five minutes for questions from the board.
The TPA administers BISD’s major medical healthcare plan, insurance consultant Roger Garza explained at the beginning of the meeting. The TPA basically administers claims on the district’s behalf under guidelines of the Affordable Care Act.
Fourteen potential TPAs submitted proposals under a competitive sealed bid process that began in June because BISD’s TPA contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield was expiring. Each had to answer 27 questions and the five finalists were chosen and ranked after making presentations to BISD’s employee benefits committee.
The EBC ranked United Healthcare first among the five finalists, followed by BCBS, Aetna, Texas Health Benefits Pool and Frontier Direct Care.
The meeting’s agenda had an action item to approve United Healthcare as the TPA and Miracle Medical of Weslaco and New Matter of San Antonio for wellness and disease management.
But after board member Carlos Elizondo raised concerns that the service those two firms would provide are already included in the major medical plan that the district’s TPA administers, the board voted on the two matters separately.
After approving United Healthcare as the TPA, the board tabled a decision on the wellness and disease management matters and directed Superintendent Rene Gutierrez to meet with United Healthcare representatives to make sure there is no duplication of services.
