Mr. Doug Cassman This is Me

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1. 1. www.chronicle-tribune.com

   www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/10/2008   Last Visited: 2/10/2008

   When Doug Cassman sat down with a school administrator from outside Grant County for lunch a couple weeks ago, the topic of Marion Community Schools' teacher insurance plan came up. The administrator's jaw dropped upon hearing the total cost of the plan.
   
   Compared to other similar school systems in Indiana, Marion's annual cost per teacher in health insurance is significantly higher - in some cases costing twice the amount per employee as other schools, according to information provided by Cassman, a consultant who's familiar with school insurance plans in Indiana because of his work with Educational Services Co.
   ...
   Cassman took the total cost of insurance for school corporations - including employee contributions - and divided by the number of people insured to get to an average for each district.
   
   His numbers show MCS just below $26,000 per person. Four other school systems were between $12,000 and $13,000 per person.
   
   "When you look at the annual cost per employee, you can see why we have a problem in the teacher plan in Marion," Cassman said.
   ...
   Cassman worked for the American Federation of Teachers in Anderson during negotiations over their health insurance plan.
   
   "It went three years without being settled," he said.
   
   Defining the problem
   
   Each school system Cassman analyzed, other than Anderson, uses Indiana State Teachers Association Insurance Trust as its health care provider. Although MCS leaders have firmly said they were unhappy with ISTA insurance, Cassman said he thinks the provider might not be the problem.
   
   "It's a benefit design issue, not who the vendor is," Cassman said.
   ...
   The details of the design - what make it so complicated - are something Cassman calls moving parts.
   
   "This one has more moving parts than most health plans that we would see anywhere in the state," he said.
   
   But, beyond its complications, Cassman said the biggest problem with the insurance plan design is the cost it creates for the school system.
   
   "Unless there's some claim discount activity that I can't see," Cassman said, "(the plan) is almost exclusively made up of employer contribution and benefit design."
   
   In other words, most of the cost is shouldered by the school corporation and its taxpayers.

2. 2. Anderson Community Schools - Board minutes

   www.acsc.net/Board/5_1_07.htm - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/1/2007   Last Visited: 12/5/2007

   They were Mr. Richard Sutton of R.E. Sutton and Associates, and Mr. Doug Cassman of Educational Services Company.
   ...
   Mr. Cassman stated, "Health insurance is the number one challenge that businesses and institutions have throughout this Country."
   
   While referring to the Employee Health Plan packet, he discussed the reason for the implementation of the cost sharing of the program and that it was critical to having a buy-in of that Health Insurance Plan. It is important that employees pay a share of the Plan so they are sensitive to the cost of the Plan. He said that the cost has increased 3% per year for the Corporation. The State support that Anderson Community Schools receive from the State of Indiana increased in many years zero, in some years 3%, but averaged over that same 5 year period a 1%. Every dollar removed form the Health Plan to salary also increases retirement benefits for staff, because salary drives the PERF and TRF benefits.
   
   Mr. Sutton stated, "Doug and I working together probably represent the vast majority of schools in the State.

3. 3. JUNE 11, 2002

   www.acsc.net/tempnew/htmls/611 - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/1/2001   Last Visited: 8/30/2002

   Educational Services staff members Doug Cassman, Dave Widdifield, Ed Camden, Pete Rump, and Bill Conner were introduced.