By Ralph Derickson

Todd encouraged the 12-member committee to strive for "transparency and visibility" in its deliberations to let the UK community know "how we make decisions."  "While everybody might not agree with the outcome, we'll all know how we got there," he said.

July 24, 2001 – (Lexington, Ky.) – University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd, Jr., today urged a UK Health Insurance Task Force to conduct its meetings with two "T" words in mind -- "transparency and trust."

Todd encouraged the 12-member committee to strive for "transparency and visibility" in its deliberations to let the UK community know "how we make decisions."  "While everybody might not agree with the outcome, we'll all know how we got there," he said.

The new UK president appointed the task force, as one of his first official acts on July 3.  He named the committee, which is expected to produce a report with recommendations by Dec. 31, in response to complaints from UK employees about increases in their health insurance benefits package approved just before he took office. 

Todd said the committee members should look at the history of employee health insurance programs at UK, any "mis-estimates" that might have occurred in setting the new health insurance rates, how UK's costs compare with benchmark institutions, options for health insurance, and ways of keeping pharmaceutical costs down.  

Concerning any "mis-estimates" that might have occurred in figuring the costs of the employee premiums, Todd said the committee should ask, "Did we pocket some extra money, what are the details."

Committee chair Thomas Samuel, a professor in the College of Allied Health and the Kentucky School of Public Health, said the details about the process of setting the premiums would be brought to the committee from many individuals and groups including a consulting company that specializes in health care costs.  "We will have all the data we need," Samuel promised.

Reports of the committee's work will be posted on a Web site starting Friday, Samuel said.  The Web site address is http://www.uky.edu/Healthbenefits/.