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Committee backs benefit renewals, recommends PA 152 override to full board amid rising costs
Summary
Deputy administrator Ben recommended using expected health‑insurance rates (6.8% combined) rather than illustrative figures and proposed a cost‑sharing plan that increases employee premiums by their cost‑of‑living adjustment (about 5%). The committee moved the recommended PA 152 override to the full Board of Commissioners and approved renewals and,
The Eaton County Ways & Means Committee unanimously moved forward a package of employee benefit renewals and recommended that the full Board of Commissioners adopt a PA 152 override allowing the county to set cost sharing using expected rates rather than the state’s illustrative numbers.
Deputy Administrator and Human Resources Director Ben explained the county’s three‑year vendor review and said the combined health plan rate increase based on expected claims is approximately 6.8% (the illustrative rate presented by the carrier earlier had been 22%). To limit employee impact, administration recommended an override under Public Act 152 to adopt a cost‑sharing approach that raises employee premium shares by their cost‑of‑living adjustment (about 5% for the example cohort) rather than defaulting to the statutory hard caps or an 80/20 split. Ben said this approach would keep the employee share modest (roughly 8.4% of plan cost under the recommended structure) and would not require a budget amendment in the near term given current fund projections.
The committee also discussed prescription‑drug costs and proposed a biosimilar drug strategy recommended by the county’s broker and Blue Cross Blue Shield. Staff estimated year‑one savings could be up to $2,250,000 but warned that savings may be reduced by loss of rebates and actual claim experience; the county will notify unions and employees, and staff recommended implementation steps and communication for an anticipated Jan. 1 start.
Committee members moved and supported authorization for the controller to sign renewals with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Delta Dental and voted to send the recommended PA 152 override to the full board for a two‑thirds vote. The override and any subsequent cost‑sharing adoption remain subject to full board action.
