Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners approve lower-rate health plan that raises some employee co-pays to reduce county share of premium increase
Summary
After reviewing two proposals, the board chose a plan option that reduced the county's overall premium increase but raised certain specialist and rehab co-pays for employees; staff said the change would lower the county's annual cost by about $112,000 while some outpatient co-pays would increase.
County staff presented two insurance-rate proposals: one with an 8.8% increase and a brokered alternative with an effective lower increase for the county in exchange for modestly higher employee co-pays.
Staff said the brokered option reduces the county's total projected cost and saves the county roughly $112,000 annually compared with the higher-cost option, but it raises several co-pays for employees: specialist visits (from $25 to $40), urgent care (from $20 to $25), and rehab co-pays (from $25 to $40); some coinsurance values for inpatient or ER care were also discussed.
Commissioners asked staff for the number of employees likely to be affected and for a breakdown of how the plan changes would affect employees who use specialists. After those questions, the board voted to approve the lower-rate option despite higher co-pays for certain services.
Implementation: staff said they will reconcile benefit elections and verify deductions during open enrollment; payroll and benefits staff will implement any payroll-deduction corrections before benefits go into effect.
