\n\tBy SHANNON O. WELLS<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter talking with Human Resources to clarify how costs and Pitt\u2019s insurance coverage for medical, dental and eye insurance have changed in recent years, Michael Pinsky, professor of critical care medicine, told the Senate Benefits and Welfare Committee that dental plan co-pays and plans could be changing \u2014 possibly for the better.<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s been no change in what is covered, he said at the March 25 committee meeting. \u201cWhat has changed (are) the co-pays \u2026 and the costs. This represents a national experience that everyone is seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAs a result, HR told Pinsky they would undertake a request for proposals (RFP) from various insurance companies to see what else is available other than the current coverage, possibly with a different company. \u201cAnd they\u2019re going to re-examine the potential coverage that they can give to faculty and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tCalling the interaction \u201cvery cordial,\u201d he said representatives were \u201cvery open\u201d and \u201cglad to talk to me\u201d as a non-union representative of the committee. Pinsky had been asked by the committee at its February meeting to approach HR.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey were very much worried. \u2026 They didn\u2019t want raised costs if they could (avoid it),\u201d he explained. The changing co-pays \u201ccan have a significant impact on quality of life, and they were very sensitive to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPinsky reported that HR would, as part of their review process of various companies, seek input from faculty \u201cbecause it may change the way the coverage works. As you can imagine, if you go with different companies, things are differently structured.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey offered to meet with me and us anytime again. \u2026 I felt they were being honest with us in every way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJudy Callan, an associate professor of nursing who raised the cost concerns at the committee\u2019s February meeting, thanked Pinsky for his efforts.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m really happy to hear that they\u2019re putting out this RFP, because I think that can only benefit other people, getting other plans and maybe something that might be superior to what we have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\tCommittee members went on to discuss information shared in the March 16 edition of the University Times<\/a> regarding health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), and health reimbursement arrangements (HRA).<\/p>\n \n\tCommittee Chair Tom Songer, a faculty member in the School of Public Health, said after reading up on HRAs, he thought it might be a viable option for the University \u201cas a mechanism to deal with the rising out-of-pocket costs through deductibles and copayments.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tPitt does not offer an HRA \u2014 an employer-funded plan that reimburses employees for qualified medical expenses. In most cases, the plans will reimburse your in-network doctor directly and is usually tax-free.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe onus there \u2026 it looks to me like an employer benefit much more so than the employees themselves taking on the responsibility, and I think that\u2019s its appeal,\u201d he said. \u201cMany of us have had experience with the FSA, where you use it or lose it, and you\u2019re trying to identify, \u2018Well, what is the amount I should be taking out so I\u2019m not ending up losing anything at the end of the calendar year?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSonger\u2019s comments prompted a question about a \u201cballpark amount\u201d that employees can request from the HRA, which Songer said he would investigate.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s part of the discussion, if you\u2019re going to take it,\u201d said Avital Isenberg, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. \u201cI feel like it should be something significant, not just, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ll cover your $100 co-pay for your one medication for one month. If we\u2019re actually going to take it to somebody, just knowing what other employers have done in the past might be helpful in this discussion too.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRegarding the HSA, Pinsky noted difficulty he had online in determining how much he has remaining in his savings account each month.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOne of the things that I would recommend if we could, from the Benefits and Welfare Committee, is to make it more transparent,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re putting in $50, $100, whatever it is, each month, how much do you have of it left? Also, you can take a certain percentage of that and carry it over the next year \u2026<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou only take a certain amount, but knowing ahead of time and knowing what you\u2019ve got at the time should be something that I should easily click on my.pitt.edu and be able to see,\u201d he added. \u201cAt the moment, it\u2019s not that easy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn other news, committee secretary Linda Tashbook, an adjunct professor in the School of Law, updated the committee on the pollinator garden in memory of Laura Lovett,<\/a> a former professor in the Dietrich School\u2019s Department of History and its Gender, Sexuality, & Women\u2019s Studies Program, who unexpectedly passed away in March 2025, \u201cis finally going to be planted on April the 28th.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTashbook explained how her initial efforts to plant a tree weren\u2019t encouraging, but led to an offer from the Office of Sustainability to dedicate a proposed pollinator garden to Lovett\u2019s memory. Through word of mouth, various departments got involved to raise money in for the garden in Lovett\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re calling it the Laura Lovett garden, and everything worked out well,\u201d Tashbook said, sharing a\u00a0link for those who want to volunteer\u00a0to help plant the garden<\/a>. \u201cThere are various time slots. Three of us from this committee have already signed up.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tVolunteers are asked to meet at\u00a0the Tennyson Street entrance to Clapp Hall at 11 a.m. on April 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn other Mental Wellness Task Force news, Tashbook said online art walks<\/a> are now available to the Pitt community.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s as if you\u2019re visiting a museum, but you don\u2019t have to leave your desk, because sometimes people just need a 15-minute break from their work,\u201d she said. \u201cThese online art walks point to works of art that are owned by the University and already online. We\u2019re making thumbnail images that you click on, and then you can zoom in to the full image and get a little curated description of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSome \u201csoothing guidance\u201d has been added to go with it, she noted.<\/p>\n \n\tOne \u201cwalk\u201d is about validation and another about solitude, with \u201cmore to come.\u201d Clicking on \u201cescape,\u201d for example, leads to an array of several works of art that \u201ckind of represent the feeling of escape,\u201d Tashbook said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s an introductory, soothing paragraph or so about escape.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at\u00a0shannonw@pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHave a story idea or news to share?\u00a0Share<\/a>\u00a0it with the University Times.<\/p>\n \n\tFollow the University Times on\u00a0Twitter\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n