At its August 17 work study meeting, the Katy ISD board of trustees heard an update about the district’s health plan for employees. District officials worked with a consultant – the Baldwin Group – which recommended a new option for employees this year.

The district has faced criticism from employees– many of whom have spoken to the board during public comments at several board meetings -- about the current plan, and from the Texas AFT teachers’ union, which on July 20 presented a petition to the board, signed by 691 members, requesting consideration of additional options for health insurance.

“Typically, we've had three plans in Katy ISD,” said presenter Chief Human Resources Officer Brian Schuss at the August 17 meeting. ”You're going to see the recommendation of a fourth plan, namely a Kelsey-Seybold option.”

“in addition, what you're also going to see is not just one, but two co-pay addition plans to our offerings, the Kelsey Seybold plan being one and the Memorial Hermann plan being converted to that,” said Schuss. He said that the co-pay option -- $10 for primary care visits and $50 for specialist visits -- would incentivize people to seek preventative care by accessing their primary care doctors and specialists, without having to worry about meeting their deductibles.

The district is not recommending any changes to deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums, Schuss said. The district will increase its employer contribution from the prior level of $385 to $427 per employee, he said. “If the district wasn't recommending that increase to $427 per employee, that increase on the Memorial Herman ACO would be about $50 per month,” Schuss said. The employer contribution increase equals about $4 million in additional expense for the district, he said.

The presentation also reviewed recent “medical inflation” trends – which officials said was at a 20-year high -- as well as the district’s focus on cost containment. Representatives said that the Memorial Hermann ACO was achieving cost containment but that the plan was limited to just one hospital system. The recommended increase per month for that plan is $8 per month for “employee only,” Schuss said. The premiums for the Kelsey-Seybold plan are slightly higher than those for the Memorial Hermann plan, he said.

Dr. Donald Aga, Medical Director for Healthcare Innovation at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said that the Kelsey-Seybold system has been serving the Houston community for more than 75 years, with around 1,100 physicians and advanced practice clinicians at 45 locations.

“One of our biggest advantages for Katy ISD and employees is having so much care close to where they live and work,” Aga said.

Kelsey Seybold has over 65 specialties, including primary care, pediatrics, and the largest OB-BYN group in Houston, he said. All care is coordinated through one electronic medical record. Kelsey-Seybold

already works with other school districts in the greater Houston area, including Fort Bend ISD and Aldine ISD, Aga said.

The Kelsey-Seybold plan does not cover services at the renowned M.D. Anderson hospital system, but a Kelsey-Seybold representative said that the treatment plans used by Kelsey-Seybold are the same as those used by M.D. Anderson. If there is a rare cancer which Kelsey-Seybold physicians cannot treat, the patient could be referred to M.D. Anderson, the representative said.

The district expects about a 20 percent migration from the Memorial Hermann “choice” plan to the Kelsey-Seybold plan, Schuss said.

The district also looked at plans available through TRS but found that employees would pay more for those plans, officials said.

At its August 24 regular board meeting, the KISD school board voted 7-0 to approve the new health plan options as outlined at the August 17 work study meeting.