An advisory committee is calling on the city to streamline its collection of health care data and look at the possibility of joining the Group Insurance Commission.

The Health Care Advisory Committee, a 10-member group of health care experts and Newton residents, filed a report this month with 26 recommendations for ways to improve how the city handles its health care costs, which totaled $47.4 million last year.

The Board of Aldermen and Mayor Setti Warren appointed the committee and the committee presented its findings to the aldermen earlier this month. The group was tasked with reviewing the cost and efficiency of the citys health plan and examining possible alternatives.

The first recommendation called for improving the system of collecting and analyzing data. Committee members said their task was complicated by a difficulty in deciphering the data and comparing it to neighboring communities.

The city, which is self-insured, currently provides three commercial plans and three Medicare plans. The city insures 5,000 employees, retirees and dependants. The committee recommended using a single template and electronic formatting to collect data to allow for easier comparisons.

Maureen Lemieux, the citys chief financial officer, defended the citys record keeping, saying the mix of grandfathered and newer policies is complicated. She said it could be difficult for an outside group to interpret internal data, while noting that the various carriers cant share all of the data because of medical privacy laws.

Still, she said there are areas where improvements can be made in getting better reporting from carriers. She said one of those areas would be asking for reports as spreadsheets instead of PDF, as to avoid the time-consuming task of copying the individual data into a database.

They certainly have some good recommendations, said Lemieux. There are definitely a few things to speak with the carriers about to reformat some of the data.

The committee also recommended that the Warren administration consider moving to the state health insurance system because of potentially significant savings.

The city previously reviewed the possibility of joining the GIC, but decided against joining. The 2011 union contracts negotiated between the unions and the current administration resulted in modified health plans and an agreement to limit total compensation to 2.5 percent growth.

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Newton's health care committee makes recommendations