Should the Public Employees' Benefit Board adopt some changes to medical and pharmacy plan designs in 2012 and more changes in 2013 — or simply make more significant changes in 2012? That's the question the PEBB Board continues to wrestle with as it continues to face the reality of a deficit that ranges from $20.5 million to as much as $104.3 million.

 

The final number will depend largely on the results of the current state contract bargaining with AFSCME, SEIU and other state unions.

 

Council 75 Staff Representative Diane Lovell is this union's longtime representative on the PEBB Board, which consists of an even split of labor and management seats. Attached to this article is a third PowerPoint presentation that focuses on the 2012/2013 design changes question.

 

Lovell's first two PowerPoint presentations are available in the PEBB Update tab of this website.

 

Here are some viewing instructions:

 

• This seems obvious, but you do have to have PowerPoint on your computer to view the presentation.

 

• Depending on your computer, it will take a little bit of time to download the program, so be patient.

 

• Starting the program will vary slightly, depending on what version of PowerPoint you have. But somewhere in the PowerPoint tool bar there should be a "Slide Show" option (a pull-down menu on the newer versions), and once you select "View Show" the program and audio should start right up.

 

• If you get the first slide on your screen but nothing else happens, trying clicking on the little audio icon in the lower left corner. Note that you may have to click on the audio icon to start the audio on each slide.

 

• You can use the arrow buttons on your keyboard to advance when prompted by Lovell's audio to go to the "next slide," but again, you may have to click on the audio icon to start the audio for the slide.