Morehouse College
FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBERS

November 18, 2002

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, the rising cost of health insurance continues to be a major issue that Morehouse has implemented strategies to address. Last year health insurance nationally for small employers increased at rates between 30% and 40%. Over the last three years, the Morehouse health insurance has increased an average of 22%. Within a very difficult insurance market, the College has worked to control and contain cost. We have received input from a number of sources, including our faculty and staff medical insurance committee and Atlanta International, RMI, our insurance broker.

While most institutions require a contribution from employees, Morehouse pays the full cost of medical insurance for its employees and a portion of the cost of family coverage. To maintain an affordable quality program, our medical insurance committee and insurance broker made several recommendations for controlling and containing cost. We have discussed most of these recommendations with you at various faculty and staff meetings. The most significant changes to our medical insurance plan will be increases in the co-pays for generic and brand name drugs and physician office visits. These changes and other adjustments to the Plan will be effective Wednesday, January 1, 2003. They are summarized in Table A.

In addition to the Plan changes, we again reviewed our family medical coverage. Effective Wednesday, January 1, 2003 the premium for employees with Family Coverage only will increase from $175 per month to $200. These changes are summarized in Table B. Even with this increase the cost paid by Morehouse employees, with family coverage, still remains the lowest among the Georgia Foundation for Independent Colleges (GFIC), the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS), the University System of Georgia and the Atlanta University Center (AUC) institutions.

As a result of these changes, new medical insurance cards for the Plan will be issued. Please feel free to contact Elgin Ford, Benefits Manager, at extension 2646 or e-mail him at eford@morehouse.edu, if you have specific questions regarding your personal health coverage and/or enrollment. For further information on the changes and/or information on the new cards, you may also visit the Human Resources web site at www.morehouse.edu.