Staunton’s Mary Baldwin College has joined with 11 other private Virginia colleges to form a consortium to provide health insurance for the 3,000 employees at the institutions.
The consortium took effect in January.
Mary Baldwin spokeswoman Crista Cabe said the hope is that the consortium will save the colleges money over time while covering health care needs.
The consortium will access data available to a self-insured program to determine what is driving health care costs, and help its members mitigate the expenses.
Unlike a private insurer, any funds accumulated in excess of health care claims in a given year will be put in a trust fund for the respective institutions, said Tim Klopfenstein, executive director of the consortium. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield is administering the coverage.
Klopfenstein said the consortium has numerous advantages over purchasing health care from a private provider.
“We are in charge of a benefit plan instead of buying a shelf plan from a provider,” he said. “We can customize as needed.”
Cabe said the 12 institutions are all part of The Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia, an association of nonprofit private Virginia colleges.
She said the consortium is an outgrowth of other ventures the institutions have worked on together.
The consortium has been planned and researched for eight years. Cabe said the results are positive.
“We are all very, very pleased,” Cabe said. “This will be a good thing for colleges and universities, and a good model for how small organizations can create benefits for everybody.”
Klopfenstein said the consortium is a first in the commonwealth for private colleges.
But he said the same model has been done with private colleges in Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Florida.
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