Bank ‘Guarantees‘ Satisfaction with CDHP Options

With more than $51 billion in assets, Zions Bancorporation operates 500 full-service banking offices in 10 Western and Southwestern states and employs more than 11,000 people. Providing these employees and their families with quality health care has been a focus for Harris H. Simmons over the course of his 30-plus years with Zions.

With more than $51 billion in assets, Zions Bancorporation operates 500 full-service banking offices in 10 Western and Southwestern states and employs more than 11,000 people. Providing these employees and their families with quality health care has been a focus for Harris H. Simmons over the course of his 30-plus years with Zions.

But as he saw the cost of HMOs and PPOs increasing 20% or more annually, he encouraged Zions’ benefits director to explore long-term, sustainable health plan options that also helped the company stay competitive. With Simmons’ support, the company’s benefits team developed a creative solution using consumer-driven health plans (CDHP) in conjunction with health savings accounts (HSA) that would lower the company’s overall costs.

In 2005, Zions Bancorporation’s CEO became a pioneer in his industry by transitioning the company from HMO and PPO plan options to CDHPs with an HSA option. By 2007, Simmons and his benefits committee recognized they would be doing a disservice to employees by keeping inefficient HMO and PPO options on the plan, subsequently making the leap to 100% CDHP options.

Simmons’ leadership in shifting to CDHP options has the power to inspire other companies to adopt similar initiatives. Having served as past chairman of the American Bankers Association and in his current service on several business and nonprofit boards, Simmons shares his knowledge, innovation, and advocacy of cost-effective CDHPs with other business leaders.

Simmons took a leadership role in championing CDHPs to employees. He encouraged all senior managers in the company to likewise promote the benefits of the plans through educational workshops and company communications. 

Not surprisingly, many employees previously enrolled in HMO or PPO plans resisted the termination of those plan options, reasoning that they would rather pay more in premiums than have to worry about contributing to an HSA. They had trouble reconciling the upfront cost of CDHPs with the actual expense savings for more than 90% of employees.  

Under Simmons’ leadership, the company offered employees resistant to the CDHPs a money-back guarantee for those who could prove they would have saved money on the old HMO and PPO options in 2007 and 2008. Taking it a step further, the company developed a unique no-interest loan program to ease employee concerns about paying a significant sum to meet the deductible if an unexpected medical event occurred or for those who had not fully funded their HSAs.
 
As of June 2010, only 34 loans have been processed and over half of eligible employees are now enrolled in an HSA. Simmons empowered employees with solutions, giving them diverse plan options that allow them to manage their risk levels, while safeguarding against high medical costs. Because of his leadership, Zions has been able to maintain a 5% cap on annual plan increases.
 
“The most valuable people in an organization tend to be those with strong judgment and technical skills, who also have relatively thick skins and well-controlled egos, and who are able to be generous in giving credit to others for successes and are quick to take responsibility when things go wrong,” Simmons said.

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