SBCISD rolls out new health insurance plan

By PETE BANDA
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com

One of the main areas of concern for the San Benito CISD over the last year has been the handling of employee health care benefits.
Originally, while at the helm, former Superintendent Dr. Marc A. Puig proposed the Texas Retirement System (TRS) insurance plan, but failed to convince the school board to approve it.
Although an overwhelming majority of Texas school districts already use the TRS insurance program, the school board voted 5-2 against switching to the new plan back in April, opting instead to focus mainly on revamping the current one.
More than four months later at a school board meeting in August, a new insurance plan was finally approved.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2015/09/26/sbcisd-rolls-out-new-health-insurance-plan/

27 comments

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  1. @ lil Lupe
    Someone from the bunch has to defend their horrible decision. You want to talk about facts, all you need to do is look at school districts where Bob Trevino is involved and that will tell you the story. This guy, along with certain boards don’t do anything for free. Bottom line Bob Trevino will make money from the board selecting BC/BS as there insurance carrier. We all know, the shenanigans that are going on and it smells bad but once again we must thank ourselves for electing and re-electing incompetent board members. So the next time you see your elected compadres, thank them for all the money going out of your pocket for health insurance. By the way, I totally agree, we have the worst board president ever.. If you believe me go see it for yourself, she extremely incompetent… Only in SB…

    • Hurry Hurry on October 9, 2015 at 1:16 pm
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    I was able to pick the plan I could live with, but I’m only insuring myself. As for the employees who are trying to insure the family, then $900 a month is way too high. The District, or the insurance company or someone had these insurance books showing the rates long before the employees received the books. In some cases like transportation the introduction of the insurance books and sign up was the same day. And you are made to feel like you have to sign up now or you will have no coverage. By law we have 30 days to sign up, and that’s the law. One teacher told me that his wife was going to check about getting INS through her work and one of his sons was also going to check on insurance through his work. All of this takes some time. When one of the representatives from the insurance company was asked about the 30 days to sign up they told us we were correct, but they weren’t suppose to bring that up. I’m just afraid a lot of people made some hurry up decisions from not being informed of their rights.

  2. @ Not
    I’m not surprised someone would defend this board member, it must be a family member or someone that benefits from the self gaining politician. All you need to do is keep your ears open because they brag about all the French benefits they receive while your family member serves on the board. By the way, Bob Trevino was named the agent of record and thats one of the main reasons the rates are so high is too pay him his commission on the back end. The word spreads out fast when you take advantage of your political seat and this school board is notorious for that. As a politician that mud slings, you better be ready to be held to a very high ethical standard as your presume.. By the way, the board president should step down she a major joke!

      • Not! on October 12, 2015 at 7:55 pm
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      @Exposed

      PROVE IT! Prove that Trevino is the agent of record. It’s easy to say things when you can’t be held accountable for them. It’s pretty pathetic actually. Even if Trevino was receiving a commission, that would not be the reason the insurance is high. SBCISD employees are just so used to the district footing the bill for all those years. That’s why they are in the mess that they’re in. Insurances are high EVERYWHERE! Get out of the San Benito Bubble.

      • Lil Lupe on October 13, 2015 at 8:16 am
      • Reply

      Commission on the back end? It was a bid. SBCISD doesn’t pay a dime to Bob Trevino, BC/BS does. I’m assuming you have a hard time gathering FACTS. Rates do not change over an agent of record. A bid is a bid and can not be changed. Otherwise, you’d have Meritan/AETNA and other insurance bidders filing lawsuits. Is anybody suiing San Benito CISD over it?

      • SB Citizen on October 19, 2015 at 9:29 pm
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      Ummm, they are called “fringe” benefits. Smh.

  3. It’s a shame that 100 or so people the editor attempted to interview where afraid of political retaliation, that’s a whole story in itself because it’s against the law. It appears there is much to investigate in this small town that recycles politicians, that should tell you something. The school district is at a all time low with this incompetent board lead by its extremely incompetent president. Here lies the reason why our board is so fractured and dysfunctional. Future candidates associated with these people will not get elected. We will take a stand and change the political mold of this town..

    • Fed up on October 2, 2015 at 8:31 am
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    @ lil lupe, the board makes decisions and they can table them too. No one twisted thier arms. They are competent to understand what’s placed in front of them. Don’t make excuses for them. Ultimately they make the decisions and should be held accountable for this insurance mess because that’s what it is, a mess!!!

  4. Here we go again with the same song and dance. Blame the previous board! These people will never take responsibility for their actions. Bottom line, we are tired of self gaining politicians. What a coincidence the insurance vendor changes to Bob Trevino, and a board member purchases a new car( with no job) and another board members brags about going to Cowboy games and College football games as well. These board members really did a horrendous job evaluating this insurance process and once again selecting Bob Trevino- blue cross blue shield.. Thank you board members! Your only as good as your board president… Incompetent!!!’

      • Not! on October 5, 2015 at 11:02 pm
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      You talk about dysfunctional, yet you throw around insinuations and accusations, without any truth behind it. Blue Cross Blue Shield was the best insurance regardless of what you think. We would be worse off had the board selected anything but. To top it off, you fail to mention that the Trevino man was removed as agent prior to the vote. Why is it that you leave specific details such as what I just mentioned out? Who are you trying to fool? Next time you try to spew your word vomit, make sure you put it all out there.
      Also, what does someone’s personal life matter to you? Why should a board member be ashamed of where he or she goes on family vacation? Or why should a board member have to hide what he or she does outside of their board duties? Aside from working hard to make ends meet as well as save for their vacation, they honorably serve their community, even when there are people like YOU that scrutinize anything and everything about their lives. So what if they go on vacation?! So WHAT? If you have something to say or have questions about their income and spending, why not ask instead of troll around their social media pages. Get a life!

    • Interesting information on September 30, 2015 at 10:30 pm
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    Not only is the insurance a mess, but certain principals received bigger pay increases with less years of service, but then again it just a matter of who you know or who you are related too. The Gateway principal came out smelling like a rose. Dr. Puig gave him his wish of leaving the PRC, I guess all those tacos he bought for him worked. Now, he was seen gasing up the car for the interim superintendent. Well he knows what band wagon to jump on that’s for sure.

    • Lil Lupe on September 30, 2015 at 4:25 pm
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    So we want lower insurance, plus raises and what else? This just sounds like something else for people to gripe about. If you know how this works, the Board only chooses which insurance to go with under a small window to pick. Their decision is only as good as the information provided to them. The question that should be asked is, who went out for the bids to begin with? Who negotiated the terms(consultant/superintendent/risk manager) before it went to the board? All the board does is try to choose the best plan possible from the bids that were sent in. They do not negotiate anything with vendors, etc. At the end of the day, we were in a tough financial state and the Board chose the best plan for us with what was bid for SBCISD. Remember, the district paid out over 12million dollars from the fund balance. The previous insurance decimated our fund balance because the previous board put the district in a very compromised position.

    At the end of the day people as a whole are never going to be happy. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other.

    • ATX on September 30, 2015 at 7:58 am
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    Based on the details i read on the coverage, this seems like a good deal when compared to my insurance. A high deductible HSA with an annual deductible of $3,000 and everything covered 100% thereafter (as long as you go in-network) is not bad at all. The premiums are lower…but the money you elect to put in the HSA (tax free) carries over year over year if you don’t use it. Whereas the PPO option, where you pay higher monthly premiums but lower overall co-pays.

    IMO, the High Deductible HSA is the way to go. One big question is how much are the monthly premiums for employees?

    Think of it this way…say you go PPO option and pay $400 monthly on premiums and then lower co-pays. Those $400 a month don’t go anywhere….just spent and gone forever. If you go HDHSA, the premiums are lower, but you have to elect how much money to put from your pay check into that Health Savings Account. If you are going to spend $400 a month with option 1, why not go with the HSA and elect to pay that amount you’d be paying in option 1 and put that into your HSA monthly. This way, that money you put into the HSA account builds up if you don’t use it, and year after year, whatever you don’t use just carries over! better tan paying high premiums that cant be utilized towards medical bills.

    I will say though, that this option is hard to start up, as you need time to build up the HSA account. But once you hit that high deductible….the rest of the year is covered 100%

    Insurance is a tough one any way you look at it….but if you crunch the numbers, you save more in the long run with the HSA since whatever you put it is yours forever until its used….whereas high monthly premiums don’t build up, don’t go towards your bills, they just vanish, yet you pay slightly less at each Dr visit.3

    “Pick your poison.”

    1. Wow school board I mean ATX what are you talking about $3000.00 is not bad because it can be tax-free. Not sure where you work but at SB the employees were comparing Harlingen CISD insurance same insurance company and plan that we have to pay $3000.00 deductible before they cover $1 dollar and $40.00 cheaper. It has a co-pay to see doctors the SB plan you have to pay $3,000.00 first. Same company same plan but not the same benefits. You talk about things being tax free yes if you elect to use your cafeteria plan but that plan only allows you to roll over $500.00 a year anything over that you lose. So please don’t try to sell me something that is not good and isn’t really in the best interest for SB staff members. We all know it was a pay back for campaign contributions and its sad because I really did think this board would be different.

  5. There has been extreme criticism of the previous school boards for spending tax payer dollars, micro managing and financial debacle. Will fast forward to the newly elected board members with a new school board president and the situation has escalated to the worst it’s ever been. Our educational scores are horrendous, spending millions on educational programs with no greater results, and now an unaffordable health insurance that is spear headed by Bob Trevino who financed the board members campaign. Yes, that’s correct, request a Public information request on their campaign financial statement and you will find Bob Trevino’s name all over it. Thank you board member’s for not looking out for us employees and our family’s but looking out for their personal gain… TEA, please come help us… Our board president is a major joke and should send smoke signals that we need a major overhaul on our board.. Thank you for reading my message…..

      • Lil Lupe on October 13, 2015 at 8:12 am
      • Reply

      Scores are horrendous? The school year just started. The children have not even tested yet. They won’t until next year. The “horrendous” scores you are talking about are from the previous Board/Supt era. Your statement is comical at best.

      On top of that, once again the budget just opened in September. So your claims of escalation are again comical. If everything is public record, then do a request and post it online so we can see this debacle.

      1. @ lil lupe
        Ask your wonderful board president ( Anna Cruz) the impact her $1 million dollar educational program had last school year. The educational program not researched based was a total waste of money and the poor test scores prove it. The wonderful board president was promoted shortly after the program was purchased in SBISD. Lil Lupe, stop wasting your time trying to defend incompetence it has been exposed and your out numbered.. We are sick of self gaining politicians who put themselves before our children’s education. You cant argue poor staff moral, political mico managing and poor educational scores. Best of luck SBISD family, our best bet is TEA come and clean house. fingers are crossed and calls are being made daily…..

          • Lil Lupe on October 26, 2015 at 8:15 am
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          LOL Your’e obviously an Yliana cronie which is comical. So your saying the Board President brought this program to the district without anyone’s consent? Was there not a vote on this program? Which way did Yliana, Fatima, Angel, Arnold etc vote? This was not something brought on by one individual. You just want it to feel that way because you are obviously against everything this person does.

          And get over it because TEA isn’t going to come in and clean house. As bad as you want them to SBCISD isn’t in bad shape like you claim it to be. I guess whatever makes you sleep better at night. Good luck with that!

  6. I’m going with two angles with my statements. The first is for SBCISD insurance plan. It is really not a plan for anyone but the agent or agents that profit from it. You have the least expensive plan that will not pay one dollar for any medical issue until we pay a $3000.00 deductible. That’s an average of $250.00 a month on top of the $40.00 you have to pay the district. If our neighboring town of Harlingen didn’t offer the same Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance to its employees and a $0.00 cost and that same insurance offers them a co-pay for doctors in wouldn’t hurt so much. What doesn’t make any sense is that insurance costs the Harlingen district less while offering more coverage while our district is paying more and the employees are paying an additional $40.00 a month. The other plan they offered was at a cost of $128.76 to each employee but if you want to insure your family it’s a whopping $869.01 a month (not a year – that’s a month people at a cost that is a 250% increase over last year). Even if you’re an administrator or a teacher that is still a great deal of money. I’m not really sure how our hourly employees can afford that and my hearts go out to them. We can go around and around with the rumors that Bob Trevino insurance agency helped with contributions for the newly elected board members but we will never know the complete truth on that matter. I’m asking for clarification from our community does the school district need to have an open bid for insurance and are they sealed and are those bids now part of the open records policy? So this goes out to the school board members and especially the newly elected board members because we see that you sure post many things on your Facebook page to please explain with a post to this article WHY. Why are we paying so much for a terrible insurance and why did you have to go with Bob Trevino insurance. Your silence on the matter will speak volumes if you don’t want to answer on this forum or call the SB Newspaper (aka SBCISD newspaper) give them your side or the board side of the issue. Don’t make us feel like peasants and just offer us cake that we already paid for.
    The second angle is to SB News or should I call it SBCISD newspaper. Great job towing the party line. That insurance article was just terrible. You didn’t explain the two plans. You didn’t tell the readers that the plan has increased or did you do any journalist investigating on what neighboring school districts are offering at what cost or what coverage. You didn’t interview any employees to ask them their reaction to a 250% increase in premiums. You have used in the past that you need to check if things are factual. Well you’re the newspaper. Pick up the phone and call Harlingen, call Los Fresnos or call Weslaco and ask them what they are paying for insurance and what are the employees paying. I understand the community understands that you can’t write an article that puts SBCISD in a bad light because they pay your bills but isn’t your loyalty to the readers and our community. I’m sure you will put out a statement that those articles take time and that you wrote a bad article on Dr. Puig that he fooled you. Use some common sense and ask the hard questions. Did Dr. Puig leave because he didn’t want this insurance or because of the consultant of this insurance? SB News stop with the company line and report the news even it makes SBCISD and its board look bad. You as a reporting agency just need to report the facts. We are not asking for any slant, just the truth.

    1. Dear reader, thanks for your concern.
      However, I must say this:
      I myself contacted probably 100 employees in an attempt to get both sides of the story. Nobody will talk for fear of losing their job.
      If you are an employee or know somebody, by all means, send them my way.
      We are a small staff/news publication that works 60-70 hours a week to bring to you everything news wise possible. But we can only do so much. Researching and investigating is extremely time consuming and gets us nowhere if there is nobody willing to speak to us on record.

      1. I thought you might use the excuse of time but how much time would it have taken to compare last year’s rates to this year’s rates – maybe 5 minutes. Or maybe compare Harlingen’s Blue Cross to our Blue Cross – maybe 10 minutes. So 15 minutes out of your day to write a much better report. You have to see that your covering or not putting out the facts for your readers for SBCISD if you don’t see that then you might want to find another profession. So if you really spoke to 100 employees and not 1 was willing to put their name on record what is that telling you. Don’t you think then the board is putting pressure on all of us to stay quiet if you don’t see that then my first assumption is correct (Aka SBCISD newspaper). I think you have the creative license to speak to SB employees and report what they are saying without using names if the majorities are saying the same thing. IF you don’t see that SB employees are begging for you to do real reporting again it might be time for you to find another profession.

        • Viola Luz on October 6, 2015 at 6:31 am
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        Dear Editor,
        Best way is to do a comparison of coverage’s based on what they have now, and what they had last year. It’s apparent people are not happy with the current coverage’s and you can understand why. Why would a board make a decision to go with a plan that cost more with less coverage. Is there corruption evolved here? YOU need to investigate this issue. How much money is being injected from the general fund to pay the insurance? How much money is being made from prescription card, Mr editor have you ever thought who is getting money under the table? Look at the make up of the board right now? Are they really business people? Not really so why would 4 people be determined to go with this program? Maybe you need to interview them and ask questions. It’s time to review and open up the health insurance And when they vote ALL board members need to be in attendance when voting on the second highest expense in the District. Oh one final point it’s going to be hard to find anyone in the District to complain because of there fear of losing their job. Please Mr Editor be a little more investigative on your approach. .

          • Lil Lupe on October 8, 2015 at 8:44 am
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          Seriously these are the questions you are asking? You can not compare last year’s insurance to this year’s. Last year’s insurance is what crippled the district to begin with. The district was covering expenses for the employee 100%. That’s fact. Read the SB Newspaper clippings with Dr. Puig screaming to holy heaven about this insurance.

          You obviously don’t know what’s going on to be blaming ONLY 4 board members. The vote was 6-1, and if you were at the meeting the lone dissenting vote wasn’t even paying attention when they were voting so he voted against it not knowing what he was voting against. That’s fact. Meetings are taped. Go watch it.

    • LoveSB on September 29, 2015 at 2:08 pm
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    WOW!! I don’t work for the district but I have heard the price was very high. I hope for the sake of our employees they can make a change FAST!!!

  7. The former superintendent recommended TRS, board rejected. The SBISD insurance consultant recommended Aetna, board rejected. RFP stated no agents to be involved, board rejected. Instead the board approved the highest bid with lowest benefits through an agent who didn’t even submit the proposal.

    • PPP on September 27, 2015 at 7:28 am
    • Reply

    School board members and admin should be required to enroll/buy the insurance the school district provides. They should also be required to attend presentation meetings about the plan and enrollment dates at campuses. That’s reasonable considering they deemed the plan reasonable enough to approve and knew enough about it to approve it.

    Ridiculous to think that Blue Cross Blue Shield could be bought from other agencies offering the same coverage, if not better, for a lot less of a a price. You don’t have to go far to find it either. Makes you wonder why the board members approved this plan and with the company it went with. Ridiculous.

  8. The insurance is a major injustice to our staff and their families. We can’t seat here and say we’re surprised, the board members are simply, giving back to Bob Trevino what was promised. Unfortunately, we have to pay for it. This is a prime example, why we must vote smart and not elect and re-elect self gaining politicians. It’s very simple people, just due your research on the board members pedigree and you will find the guilty parties.. Now we, have to suffer financially because of who we elected.. Like the saying goes, ” stupid once, not stupid twice!” …

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