news&views Summer 2015 | Page 26

COMMITTEES
Health and Wellness Benefits Committee

COMMITTEES

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project evaluations , and assuming additional assignments as directed by the Board of Directors .
The Governance Committee ’ s monitoring role contributes to ARTA ’ s organizational excellence , which in turn provides the framework that enables the association to achieve the goals within its strategic plan .
The primary focus of the Governance Committee at the present time is the facilitation of the Optimal Organizational Structure review and the implementation of potential organizational redesign .
Can we fulfill our vision and mission statement as well as achieve our goals with the way things are ? That is the question that guides the committee as ARTA moves ahead .

Health and Wellness Benefits Committee

BY GARRY HOFFART , CHAIR
This committee is comprised of five members who are elected from the ARTA membership at the annual AGM . Each member serves a five-year term with staggered terms for continuity . The five members elect a chair who then becomes a voting member of the ARTA Board of Directors . The consulting service , the hired administrative service and travel plan service providers are present at each committee meeting .
The committee holds four regular and one or two planning and educational meetings . These meetings are conducted to review financial underwriting and funding considerations as well as any program modifications to the ARTA Retiree Benefits Plan . They review and monitor claims experience , appeals , the competiveness of benefit provisions , premium rates , retention costs and underwriting agreements . The committee does this for the education , private and public sectors of the ARTA Retiree Benefits Plan . They collaborate and meet with the trustees of the ARTA Benefit Plan Trust with annual planning and joint meetings to determine the direction and overall health of the plan .
Committee members are committed to professional development and to ensuring that they are well informed and educated within the environment of benefit plans , trusts and the ever-changing landscape of such plans . They undertake this commitment by attending conferences , seminars , and presentations , and taking courses to attain various levels of certification .
Members of the committee review and recommend to the Board of Directors service-provider agreements , contracts , consultation services , travel plan service providers and their contracts , and monitor these
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