Change is on the horizon for almost 9,000 UA employees who use the state-provided healthcare program.

Healthcare premium providers may change starting Oct. 1, 2003, when the state will become self-insured and act as its own insurance company. The state will decide specifics regarding healthcare by February or March.

The change could mean very little for state employees at first, said Republican state Sen. Edward Cirillo, who heads a committee on healthcare for public employees.

But eventually, the change could mean employees could get to choose from more healthcare providers and physicians, he said.

The big difference with the change is that the state will assume the risks for the 8,848 employees under the plan, rather than CIGNA, said Marcia Chatalas, associate executive director of human resources.

For example, if a UA employee has surgery, currently CIGNA healthcare would pay. With the new program, the state would pay, Chatalas said.

This means the state will establish its own benefits packages and assume the risk of paying claims.

The state-run program includes dental and medical needs, including some type of mental health coverage, said Kris Kreutz, director of administrative services of Campus Health service and part of the committee representing UA employees.

The state will probably still contract with a healthcare provider for the new plan. This could continue to be CIGNA or a different provider, Cirillo said.

In an effort to get input from all those the change may affect, the Legislature asked UA employees and retirees to complete a survey about their healthcare needs. Over 2,350 people completed the survey.

The two biggest changes in healthcare UA employees would make, according to the survey, would be to have more flexibility in choosing providers and in choosing pharmaceuticals, like opting for generic drugs over brand name drugs.

Cirillo said the legislature hopes to take the surveys under consideration.

"Once we digest the changes and start looking at options, we would hope to look at the surveys to see what employees prefer," Cirillo said.

The Arizona Department of Administration asked for the proposals of the healthcare programs to be in place by mid to late November. The state will then look for providers and networks and see what bids they get, Kreutz said.

Decisions regarding the exact money changes should be decided by February or March.

"As we go forward in the future, we will look at changing the benefit plans themselves, making them less expensive with more deductibles," Cirillo said.

The change will likely not cause an increase in what UA employees pay for healthcare. Any premiums increase would likely be from an increase in healthcare in general across the country and not specifically from the change in programs, Cirillo said.

Currently, UA employees using the plan covering only singles pay $25 to $200 per month for CIGNA healthcare, depending on their coverage. Employees using the family program pay $125 to $565 depending on their coverage.

"We have been told by the Arizona Department of Administration that we should not anticipate any big changes," Kreutz said. "But we don't know for sure because they are still investigating this."

The state Legislature passed the law in May and it was sent to the governor last June.

In making the decision, Cirillo's committee looked at what other states were doing in terms of providing healthcare.

The committee found that every state in the union larger than Arizona, except New York, is self-insured.

Large organizations often find that if there are enough participants, the organization could provide insurance cheaper than if they go through a private insurer, in the UA's case, CIGNA.

The problem is the risk premium, or the unknown risk of what will happen next. For example, if every employee in the state of Arizona contracts the flu and visits the doctor, the state will lose a tremendous amount of money with the new plan.

If state employees stay relatively healthy, the state will save money.

CIGNA knows these risks and charges the state organizations extra money to cover the possible risks.

A committee of representatives from various state agencies, including three from the UA, are working with the state to ensure employees needs are met.

"What we're attempting to do is represent UA employees, faculty and staff in as an affective manner as possible," Kreutz said.