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Employees press commissioners on health insurance options as county weighs stipend or higher deductible
Summary
At an April 24 JPT public meeting commissioners and employees discussed three insurance-payment approaches — continue current county contribution ($1,533.48 per employee), shift to the $1,000 deductible contribution ($1,286.15), or provide a $1,500 stipend — and technical differences among plans including HSA/FLEX and prescription coverage rules; no final contribution decision was made.
Roosevelt County hosted a public JPT information meeting at 9:00 a.m. on April 24 to explain three health‑insurance payment approaches and gather employee input before a future decision. Commissioner Gordon Oelkers told attendees the county is not changing plan benefits but is considering how much the county will contribute toward premiums.
Commissioner Oelkers laid out three options: continue paying $1,533.48 per employee (status quo), move employees to the $1,000 deductible plan with a county contribution of $1,286.15, or adopt a $1,500 stipend that employees could pair with any of the available plans. "If we do the stipend, it’s going to have to change and it will involve a lot more paperwork and new cards and such," he said. JPT Insurance representative Gary Hablutzel explained structural differences in Option 3, noting that prescription drugs are often subject to the deductible unless designated preventive by federal guidance: "If you are filling a prescription that is considered a preventative drug then you will get reimbursed either in part or full... I do have a list and I believe there is over 100 drugs on this list." (Gary Hablutzel, JPT Insurance).
Employees and department leaders raised operational questions about vision-plan usage, HSA eligibility, and union contract constraints. Laurie Evans asked, "Do we have any statistics of how many people are using the vision plan?" (Laurie Evans, Deputy Clerk/Court). Commissioner Robert Toavs and others emphasized that unions limit unilateral changes during an active two‑year contract but noted this year is a negotiating year and the county would notify unions of any changes. Several employees, including Julie Bach (Aging Director), expressed concern about the administrative burden of a stipend option: "I just can see that being maybe a little bit of an issue... The stipend idea could be hard to implement if people have to get signed up for that on their own and there would have to be somebody dedicated to that." The commissioners did not make a final decision at the meeting and said the payment approach would be advertised for action at a future meeting.
Next steps noted in the meeting: commissioners requested additional feedback by email and indicated the payment approach (stipend vs. fixed employer contribution) would be placed on an upcoming agenda for action after further internal review and union notification.
