Burke County commissioners voted to approve two payments of $55,000 each to cover two county employees’ enrollment in the Samaritan Fund program, the county stated during its meeting.

County staff said the program will pay the employees’ insurance costs because both have dependents with very high medical claims. The county’s portion of participation is capped at $100,000, after which the stop-loss insurer is expected to cover further costs, staff said. The plan’s start date was July 1.

County staff said if the program had been in place last year the county would have saved about $3,400,000; they also said the two current claims are expected to exceed the county’s stop-loss threshold within 90 days and that the county will save about $45,000 this year as a result. The county described the program as voluntary for employees and said it would remove most out-of-pocket costs for those who qualify.

A motion to approve the two $55,000 payments was made and the board answered “Yes” when asked if they were in favor, after which the county moved on to other business.

The vote record did not list individual tallies in the transcript; the motion was recorded as approved during the meeting's consent/business section.