One Client’s Perspective: Why Citizens First Has Embraced Consumerism
Universal Advisor, 2007 Issue No. 1

Headquartered in Port Huron, Michigan, Citizens First is a locally operated, Michigan-chartered capital stock savings bank. With 24 branch offices housing 430 employees, it’s no surprise that the near double-digit increases in health care costs have been a significant concern for the bank. Bank President Marsh Campbell recently shared his strategy for containing these costs as well as why a consumer-driven approach was the only answer for Citizens First.

When it comes to health care, what’s your main objective?

To offer very competitive, quality benefits. The only way we can do that in today’s environment is to spend our dollars wisely and make them go as far as they possibly can. If we can save a percentage in one area, then we can spend that percentage on our employees in another. The goal is to spend the same amount of money but get more for that money.

I understand that Citizens First recently adopted a consumer-driven approach to health care. What attracted you to that approach?

In the past, our definition of “managing benefits” has been very passive. We’d meet with the provider two months before our contract expired only to find out that rates have gone up 25 percent. You can’t do that in today’s climate. You have to mange health care daily; you have to know what’s happening in industry and be aware of opportunities to create savings on one hand and provide additional benefits in the other. Unless you’re consumer-driven and out in front managing your health care and benefits packages as a whole, you can’t be effective.

Moreover, our employees’ needs are changing all the time. We felt it was extremely important to ask our employees to take an active role in selecting their benefits and give them appropriate choices to fit their needs and lifestyles.

I understand that you also implemented the use of a narrow network. Why do you believe the narrow network approach is another critical step in controlling health care cost increases?

This appears to be very effective means of delivering quality health care, yet it’s competitively priced. Our goal is to continue to make quality health care as affordable as we can for our staff. It’s not just about the bank and our costs; as in most organizations, our employees also participate in these costs. Therefore, we’re not just managing costs for the bank; we’re managing them for our staff as well.

Although it’s too early to determine the savings associated with implementing these programs, what are the projected savings for Citizens First?

If you’re talking dollars, it’s projected to be about $300,000 over 17 months. But I don’t really look at it in terms of savings. I look at it in terms of being able to contain the costs. Containing costs and providing health care without sacrificing quality is a savings and a benefit, and it’s significant.

So you’re pleased with the results so far?

Absolutely. Plante & Moran played a very significant role in helping us achieve the health care plan we desired. We couldn’t have done it with out them. Health care is a moving target — it changes constantly. It goes a lot farther than just asking a health insurance provider for a cost on a benefit plan. Plante & Moran was very skilled in dissecting multiple carriers, third-party payers, and health insurance providers and analyzing the different products they had to offer.

What about your employees? How have they reacted to the strategies that were implemented?

I think very positively, especially once they saw they had multiple choices that were very different choices — not just minor changes from one plan to another — and once they understood they could pick the plan that best fit their lifestyle without sacrificing quality. They were very pleased; they realized that their costs weren’t escalating in they way they once had.

You keep saying, “once they understood.” Does this mean that you held workshops to educate and inform them?

Constantly. Education is absolutely vital, because health care in complicated. Even for the smarted HR director, it’s complicated, and something most people don’t pay attention to until they get sick. Without the proper education regarding health care, even the best plan in the world will likely fail.

Do you believe that by implementing these strategies, employees will become better informed consumers?

Yes, very much so. And more importantly, part of the solution to benefit cost control. That’s they key; we want them to be part of the solution.