Cass County proposes changes to healthcare coverage

June 24--Employees with Cass County may soon be paying more for their employer-provided health insurance.

County Administrator Roger Fraser introduced a resolution in front of the board of commissioners Thursday that would change the current insurance policies, requiring employees to pay 20 percent of their medical benefit plan. If approved by the board, the changes will go into effect starting in September.

The proposed policy changes were devised in order to bring the county's existing ones into compliance with Michigan Public Act 152 of 2011, which mandates limitations on the amount of money local governments can provide toward employee medical coverage. Under the act, public employers can either adopt a hard cap, which limits the amount of health care costs based on coverage levels, or an 80/20 split like the county is proposing.

"We believe that's the one that will have the least impact with our employees while still getting us in compliance with state law," Fraser said.

Presently, employees contribute around 11 percent to the cost of their insurance plans, with the county providing the other 89 percent.

While the county has the option of opting out of the provisions laid out in Act 152, which happened last year, Fraser recommended that the board modify its existing policies for the upcoming plan year.

"As we looked at [our] options, we believed, given the county's financial circumstances, that we could no longer afford to continue with what we were doing," Fraser said.

When asked by Commissioner Roseann Marchetti about the potential cost savings the proposed changes would afford the county, the administrator said employer costs would indeed see a reduction.

"Until I get all the analysis done, I'm not prepared to say how much that is, but it's meaningful," Fraser said.

Commissioner Robert Ziliak raised another question, asking if there were any major claims filed by county employees in recent months. In the last few years, the county was responsible for helping to pay for a number of significant medical incidents, including several in which the employee had passed away.

"In this last year, our current plan year, we have had no significant claims, and our total claims are down," Fraser said. "At the tail end of the preceding plan year was also that way, but we still had the effects of those major claims that happened almost two years ago. That's still affecting our rates."

The board will vote on whether or not to approve the proposed insurance changes during their next meeting on July 3.

Other business conducted by the board on Thursday included:

--The introduction of a resolution that would authorize the payment of $152,260 for new financial software and technical support from BS&A, as well as an estimated $20,000 worth of hardware for the new system. The costs will be spread out over the course of three years, with the initial payment of $72,087 coming from the county delinquent tax fund. The board will vote on the resolution on July 3.

--The introduction of a resolution that would approve a number of remonumentation contracts with local surveyors, using funds from the 2014 Survey and Remonumentation Grant. The board will also vote on the resolution on July 3.

--Approval of a resolution authorizing the county's participation in the state's Scrap Tire Cleanup Grant program.

--The reappointments of Barbara Cook and Gwenn Johnson to the Cass County Planning Commission for terms ending July 31, 2017.

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