The Insurance Task Force for the Lee County School District voted to keep the current insurance plan premiums with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida for the 2012-2013 school year, along with implementing cost saving measures for employees and the district.

The task force’s recommendations will come before the board at its next meeting Jan. 31.

Those measures include mandatory mail for maintenance medications only, mandatory generic prescription drugs unless the physician indicates a brand name is required, along with a NDC Lock-Out that would have employees purchase over-the-counter drugs instead of prescriptions when available.

Insurance and Benefits Management Director Bonnie McFarland said employees will get their medication, along with having the opportunity to save money.

She said the mandatory mail cost-saving measure would have an estimated plan savings of $285,673 per year. The member savings, McFarland said, would range from $0 to $120 based on four co-pays per year, per prescription.

The mandatory generic prescription drugs have an estimated plan savings of $179,908 per year with a member savings of $25-$40 per prescription, per month.

Concerning the last cost-saving measure, NDC Lock-out, McFarland said there will be an estimated plan savings of $126,231 with a member savings of $15 to $40 per prescription, per month.

Another change the task force voted on, she said, includes the plan year and deductible year aligning with each other.

The current plan year is held between April 1 through March 31 and the deductible year is held from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31. The task force voted to align the two plans together with a one-time 15-month deductible period, which will be held from Jan. 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013.

“Anyone who met their de-ductible will have more months at that deductible,” McFarland said.

The cost for the one-time de-ductible period will be between $700,000 to $900,000 to implement.