The following story has been edited to correct Cape Girardeau Public Schools' startup and annual fees to Auxiant.

Cape Girardeau Public Schools Board of Education voted Monday, Sept. 23, to accept a bid from Auxiant to provide the district's Third Party Administrative (TPA) Health Services.

The district sent a request for proposals to six TPA providers in July before narrowing its decision to the four best options, which also included Mutual Medical Plans Inc., Crescent Health Solutions, Auxiant and Key Benefit Administrators Inc.

The official costs of Auxiant's plan are still being finalized and are expected to be finished by the end of the week. Additionally, CGPS doesn't anticipate utilizing each category offered by the service.

The preliminary Auxiant plan will cost CGPS approximately $5,000 for the initial startup fee and $2,500 annually. The plan would cost approximately $29.45 per employee per month (PEPM) in other costs if all of them were utilized. The overall monthly cost does not reflect subrogation or preferred provider organization (PPO) costs as those are still “to be determined”.

The district’s preliminary PEPM costs include:

• $16.90 for medical administrative fees;
• $1 for COBRA Administrative fees;
• $0.55 for Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) Compliance fees;
• $3 for utilization review fees;
• $1.25 for pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) fees;
• $1.50 for special reporting fees;
• $2.05 for stop-loss fees;
• $2.55 for dental administrative fees;
• $0.65 for vision administrative fees.

Included in the plan at no extra charge are disease management services, initial ID card printing and standard reporting. Summary plan descriptions and summaries of benefits coverage (SPD and SBC) will cost the district $150 per hour they are worked on, while large case management costs are $133 per hour.

“We're looking forward to developing a great plan for our staff,” superintendent Howard Benyon said. “We're hoping to be able to offer additional services for our staff with changing our TPA.”

Click here to view the full breakdown of Auxiant and its competitors' preliminary costs.