Project Results

Public Policy Goal:

To determine the impact of a 24-hour health care program on costs and patient outcomes.

Project Objective:

To review the creation and impact of the Comprehensive and Organized Manage Care Program (COMP) on the costs of medical care, return to work results, claim administration, and employee satisfaction.

Project Description:

As authorized by New York State's "alternative dispute resolution" legislation, a union-management health plan was developed that provided 24-hour health care and disability benefits for over 15,000 electrical workers in the New York metropolitan area. Managed health care for both occupational and non-occupational cases was furnished through a single provider network, administered by MagnaCare. Ill or injured workers also had access to a combined discounted prescription drug plan offered through Merck-Medco. This project included an evaluation study to assess the plan's success in containing costs and improving the quality of care. A team of investigators from Milliman and Robertson and the Integrated Benefits Institute completed the evaluation.

Key Findings and Accomplishments:

• Through a collective process, a 24 Hour health care program was developed and successfully implemented for employees of the Electrical Employers Safety Plan (EESISP) that provided occupational and non occupational health care including prescription services, case management services, and the coordination of disability benefits;
• Medical costs decreased mainly because only in network providers were covered;
• Workers found medical care to be as accessible under COMP as before the implementation of the program; and
• Of the workers who used the nurse advocate program, 70% indicated being "satisfied" or "very satisfied.

Reports and Publications:

Borba, Philip S., PhD and Thomas Parry, PhD, "An Evaluation of the Comprehensive and Organized Managed Care Program: Final Report" prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry, October 13, 2000.

Parry, T, Hom, A, Borba, P., "Treating Work and Non-Work Conditions: EESISP Baseline Medical Care Costs and Lost-Time Outcomes." Integrated Benefits Institute (1998).