Employee Benefits Committee Regular Meeting – June 4, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Employee Benefits Committee Regular Meeting – June 4, 2026
The Cleveland County Employee Benefits Committee met on June 4, 2026, at 9:00 AM in the Cleveland County Office Building, Norman, OK. The primary discussion centered on a contract update from Classen Family Medicine, a review of alternative health insurance options, and ongoing issues with American Fidelity regarding employee accounts.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the Regular Meeting held on April 2, 2026, by unanimous voice vote.
Discussion Items
- Classen Family Medicine Contract Update – Emergency Manager George Mauldin presented the status. A new contract was approved on the preceding Monday, including additional annual on-site wellness clinic services: blood pressure, pulse, weight, BMI, oxygen saturation, respiration, and blood work (CBC, CMP, fasting lipid profile, hemoglobin, TSH, estrogen/progesterone, testosterone, CSA). The contract price remains unchanged: $132 per encounter for the first 1,000 encounters, then $82.50 thereafter. Telemedicine is included at $60 per use, though it has been used only once. New specialty care at the Noble Clinic includes ear/nose/throat and osteopathic care, plus additional phlebotomy services at Noble and Norman.
- Health Insurance Alternative Exploration – Committee members discussed the need to regularly assess alternatives to the current Health Choice plan. Hub International was mentioned as a full-service broker that has worked with Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide premium plans for other counties; one member noted that a prior quote for Blue Cross Blue Shield five years ago projected a $2 million savings over three to four years. The committee agreed to consider issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) in the future to ensure competitive pricing, though it was noted that no provider may match the services of Classen Family Medicine.
- Issues with American Fidelity – One committee member reported significant difficulties with American Fidelity. The company had failed to provide required rollover reports and checks for employee Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) from the previous year, despite repeated follow-ups. Additionally, the member described cases (e.g., a cancer case) where American Fidelity was not paying out or helping employees as expected. The committee member suggested ending the relationship with American Fidelity next year and potentially moving to a self-administered FSA model to improve service.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the April 2, 2026 meeting minutes.
- Received and accepted the Classen Family Medicine contract update.
- Directed staff to continue exploring alternative health insurance options and to consider issuing an RFP in the coming year.
- Expressed intent to consider discontinuing American Fidelity for FSA administration due to persistent service failures; staff will gather final information before making a recommendation.
- Adjourned the meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Second uh we can vote for the second author say aye. Aye. All right, I'm probably coming public help. Items of business uh discussing functional action staff basically uh class that we have as you have anything else anything on that class that we pay on the uh yeah, actually there's a couple things. I mean I can give you the numbers if you want them, but I think those are pretty much boring. But uh what we did uh uh just uh Monday uh approved the new contract. There are some additions to the the contract additional services that he provides. You put in there that uh on an annual basis, they'll do the the wellness clinic here. They'll come here to do it and they'll do the you know the normal stuff, uh blood pressure, pulse weight, uh body mass index, oxygen saturation, respiration, and they'll do uh blood workup to include uh CBC uh CMP, a fasting lipid profile, hemoglobin, thyroid uh stimulating hormone, and uh they include if they would if we want estrogen progesterone, testosterone CSA, and uh they will do that. They'll come here and draw the blood, and in the contract they just 75 per just like uh the daily negotiate with DO. Also, they have added uh some specialty care uh at the Noble Clinic primarily. They have a air nose control guy that is there, and uh they also have uh uh osteopathic care down there, and let's see. They do have uh a DLO fli phlebotomous at uh Noble and Norman, and they will have soon a lab core phlebotomist at more stream lines the uh the blood work. And other than that, I think that's the only real changes in the contract. Um the just so everybody knows telemedicine is included in there at sixty dollars per, but uh we've only ever used that once. And the ideally, you know, they would do the um the HIPAA compliant secure kind of a deal, but they it can be done just via regular phone. And other than that, it's all the same. Prices remain the same. 132 dollars for the first uh 1000 uh encounters and then 8250 thereafter. Okay, all right, thanks. Um one thing to note so everybody knows, and we can communicate to employers that this direct contract is like way above and beyond also what we provide in our our insurance. So the best thing to do is find the insurance that works with our direct contact and use it. We have it, use it, and everything, and and even though it may not make you know, they do charge they do charge two um to the insurance, but we may not be recognized as as uh and that's that's so because it's a direct payment just one payment and everything. So that's what people get confused about and everything stuff and uh and whenever we do anything, it's looking at input. I think we need to we need to start looking again for uh for alternatives on the uh uh health choice just to keep our options open and everything so we don't know what health choice is going to do in the state of Oklahoma. Um, but uh but every time that we give her talking to you, that's that's quoting us if I make sure that they know they have a contract that we have one class and works and something wrong. Those the the group that we were talking to before, I don't remember the name. Yeah, the HW. Yeah, I mean it I think if you look at that, I mean it's clear that they offer a whole lot more than health choice does. Okay, but you know, people are reluctant. But I'm I'm quite certain that uh that fellow would be happy to come down and go to each office and talk. Yeah, and maybe if we could get everybody on board with that, we could see about uh going to them. Yeah, also hub international, yeah. Uh they are they're you know, they're a full federal insurance broker, so they're they're working stuff on our work now. Um they uh they have worked up with cross blue shield um uh premium plans for uh most of the counties. Um talks to some of the counties and you could remember other county, other people we set the policy, all right. Just because we had whatever we had before doesn't mean you know we've had anything, but we set it so we can have one plan, we can have two plans, we can have ten plans, all right. The whole idea is to try and minimize and have you know minimize your premium cost uh uh for the county and everything so uh while balancing trying to find a good benefit for the employee um lifetime hub has uh has already discovered this before the traditional process show um and kind of the first test has the size that we are we kind of go to the traditional insurance and then we can start looking at either tax people or sub insurance um and uh and to control our premium cost. Um but um uh was it linking county and just um yeah they would completely cross the show, which is blue cross control, which they quoted as five years ago. Um everything would all remain the same thing, so um they they projected through three or four years that it would have been a two million dollar three or more years two million dollar savings and previously so uh and uh I think that's something that we would just look at. I mean, we need to be looking at that property every single year when they stuff. So um along with you know, even you know when the class I mean, we might even have to look at maybe going out with an RP next year just to be with them all along and keep they keep beefing up our brain, but we probably should go out for an RP just to just to see if there's uh uh uh public bid market so I don't think that anybody this is going to match one class and does, but that's uh no oh I see on there. You might have somebody who'll come in a bit cheaper and then well just have to make that because uh really there's uh nobody provides a source of classroom does yeah, yeah. But I would definitely entertain you know, looking at some of the other insurance blue cross blue shield is carrier in nation and you have much more coverage available to you, despite what some people said like we were talking about before. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um you know, we've worked with them for a long time. They're uh I think they're uh uh a good uh source. All right, any uh any of business? No, any other explaining I don't think all right, then uh sort of sweet and all of uh next next month. So come on, I think we have some more information on that on the contribution account.
openpublica.com