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Commission keeps county health plan contributions, reduces dental to 50% in insurance vote
Summary
After a Sequoyah Group presentation, the Board chose Option 1—keeping the county paying 90% of the employee-only health plan—while cutting county-paid dental from 100% to 50%. The vote passed with 20 yes and 2 abstentions.
The Carter County Board of Commissioners voted to retain its existing health-plan contribution approach for employee-only coverage while reducing county-paid dental coverage from 100% to 50%.
Kelly Geer of Sequoyah Group presented two options: Option 1 (no plan changes, county pays 90% of employee-only tier for Plan 1) with an estimated $84,062 annual county increase and higher employee costs; Option 2 (alternate contribution strategy) would increase the county's estimated annual cost by about $133,102 but would not raise employee contributions and would reduce some dental costs. Geer explained HSA/HAS contribution mechanics and the county's proposed change to cover 50% of dental rather than 100%.
On a motion by Austin Jaynes, seconded by Bradley Johnson, the Board accepted Option 1 with the county continuing to pay 90% toward employee-only coverage and the county paying 50% of dental costs. The motion passed on a roll-call vote: 20 yes, 0 no, 2 abstain.
County staff and commissioners noted the decision balances rising plan costs against preserving employee access to health coverage, while shifting a larger portion of dental premiums to employees than in prior years.
