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Supervisors press DOA for options to reach $5 million health‑care savings
Summary
Supervisors asked DOA and employee groups to explore options to cut approximately $5 million from county health‑care spending, proposing cash‑in‑lieu, high‑deductible plans with HSAs, progressive premium sharing, and retiree eligibility changes while stressing need for homework on uptake and impacts.
Committee members devoted a sustained portion of the meeting to health‑care costs after a supervisor said county health insurance costs have risen sharply since 2021 and that premiums now approach 10% of the county budget. "Healthcare costs which have gone up 25,000,000 since 2021 and around 7,000,000 in this year alone," the supervisor told the committee, and urged DOA to explore options to reach a $5,000,000 reduction target.
Specific options discussed included an opt‑out cash‑in‑lieu payment for employees who carry outside coverage, pairing high‑deductible plans with health savings accounts, individual coverage HRAs, progressive premium sharing tied to wages, and phasing out retiree eligibility once retirees reach Medicare age. DOA said some changes would be contractual plan changes (M3 recommendations) and others would be handbook language; staff agreed to review which measures must proceed through contract addenda and which can be handled via handbook revisions or later RFP design.
