Georgetown ISD employees and their families will be able to access services through Next Level Medical as part of the district’s healthcare benefits for the upcoming school year.
Set to kick in Sept. 1, those covered under GISD’s medical plan can access a variety of medical services through Next Level at no cost—a move intended to address increasing healthcare costs.
About the program
GISD employees will maintain their Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas medical insurance coverage while now having access to Next Level’s services.
The partnership will come at no cost to district employees or their families. GISD will cover the $30 monthly premium for single employees or the $60 monthly premium for employees and their families.
Kenneth Adix, GISD's former chief financial officer who spearheaded this plan, said Next Level can provide primary care, urgent care, lab work, telemedicine and mental health services.
Amanda Johnson, assistant superintendent of human resources, said while employees can continue to see their primary care doctors through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, accessing the same care through Next Level would be free for the employee, which can decrease the district’s overall spending on healthcare costs.
“If we all choose to access this, then it could benefit us in the long run because we're not taking money out of the district’s pocket to help with increased healthcare costs,” Johnson said. “We might be able to put it elsewhere, like raises.”
Additionally, she said Next Level may offer services not currently available through the current insurance plan, including expanded access to GLP-1s, and hormone replacement for both men and women.
Through this plan, district leaders said employees can access any Next Level location. The provider currently has area clinics in Round Rock, Hutto and Cedar Park, and GISD officials also said a clinic is planned for the Williams Drive area.
Another change
Adix said the district is working with a company called Net Zero, which identifies providers offering services such as imaging, lab work or physical therapy, and locks in a low rate with them.
“Our plan saves money because by locking in with that person, it's cheaper than what it would be if we have used ... a high-cost provider,” Adix said.
Adix also said the district is working with an international pharmacy provider to lower cost drugs for employees through strategies such as purchasing the drug from an international provider.
Cost to the district
GISD Superintendent Devin Padavil said districts are facing a "two-headed snake" when it comes to health insurance as costs are increasing for both districts and employees.
“It's not like either side is finding a financial deal here,” Padavil said. “The employee is paying more than they've ever paid because of the cost of healthcare now, and the school district is taking on greater costs, which is hurting our ability to increase pay for teachers and staff.”
GISD officials have repeatedly said the district was not able to include teacher pay increases as part of their approved budget for the upcoming school year due to the rising cost of healthcare.
“If we wouldn't have done something, a minimum of $150 would have come out of every employee's monthly paycheck,” Padavil said. “For teachers and staff, that's really rough. For our hourly employees that are staff, that is something that can wreck their monthly paycheck as they're trying to stretch out every single dollar.”
Adix said GISD transferred $14 million to cover two previous years’ losses spent on healthcare, while the district is reinvesting $2.8 million to cover increased healthcare costs for this upcoming year.
The district used about $12.4 million in additional revenue from a property value audit to cover part of the $14 million spent on previous years’ healthcare spending, GISD’s new CFO Clay Goehring said. The remaining funding came from land sales.
With the addition of Next Level, Net Zero and the international pharmacy provider, Adix said the district is not planning to lose money on healthcare this upcoming school year.
“We're also working on other things beyond this that would lower the cost even even further,” Adix said. “In terms of where we are right now ... we're definitely in a better place than we've been. I'd rather live our future than our past.”
Going forward
GISD leaders reached out to employees to provide education about the program during the district’s open enrollment period, which ended Aug. 14. However, Johnson said the district will reach out to employees who are not using Next Level throughout the year.
Johnson also said that the district will reach out to employees that are using higher-cost drugs to let them know about resources available through Next Level.
