Commissioners approve health insurance hike

In a 2-1 vote, the county commissioners on Tuesday approved an increase in the costs associated with the county's health insurance plan for employees.

Despite what county elected officials have admitted was a breakdown in communication in recent weeks, commissioners Kellie Streeter and Trent Hinkle, after much discussion, believed it important to hold fast to the tentative details of an agreement struck between the commissioners and members of the county council this summer regarding employee health insurance, specifically that the council would offer employees an additional $1,300 raise - or offset - in 2022 if the commissioners change the plan, increasing employees' overall out of pocket costs.

"We should proceed. It's just the right thing to do," Streeter said.

Commissioner T.J. Brink, however, said the situation has left such a bad taste in his mouth that he doesn't feel right moving forward with a plan the employees were made aware of through local media outlets and not the county's elected officials themselves.

"It just gives me heartburn," he said matter-of-factly. "How can we tell someone they're getting a raise and then take it back - and not tell them in advance that it's all coming? We didn't advertise. We didn't tell anybody.

"I don't disagree that health insurance costs have to be raised. It's the principle, it's the way it was handled I'm having such a hard time swallowing."

The commissioners took back up these discussions Tuesday as they met at the Pantheon, 428 Main St., after tabling it last month, amid upset regarding how members of the county council went about approving the 2022 spending plan.

Commissioners wanted time to more thoroughly study the budget and talk to members of the county council.

Per that 2022 spending plan approved by the county council, most full-time county employees will see a $2,700 pay raise next year.

Most people in attendance at that meeting, however, weren't even aware that the budget for 2022 had been approved since it was lumped in with the much smaller budgets of three county fire districts; its details weren't discussed publicly at all, and the commissioners say they weren't privy to some of its last-minute details.

Only part of that annual raise - or $1,400 - is a traditional raise, and the rest, or $1,300, is meant to serve as "an insurance offset," members of the county council have said.

The plan for a single employee has, for years, cost only $1 per year.

As part of the proposal put forth by the commissioners - a proposal that was approved Tuesday - county employees will now begin paying $50 per paycheck toward the cost of their health insurance premiums.

Deductibles would increase from $650 up to $1,000, and co-pays would increase by $10.

Out-of-pocket maximum would go from $1,650 up to $3,000.

The $50 per pay check for 2022 equates to the $1,300 offset included in their pay raises for next year; it's a deal the county council and the commissioners have reportedly been working on for months, although the commissioners have indicated there was some kind of breakdown in communication between the two entities, hence their confusion and the lack of a public announcement on health insurance coverage.

Streeter said she found answers to many of the questions she had two weeks ago and was prepared to move forward, although she was saddened at how the plan was rolled out.

"We did (as commissioners) agree that offsetting premiums was the way to do it," she said, referencing conversations between the commissioners and the council this summer. "I have my own frustrations as to the way it was handled; we didn't communicate clearly, and it did seem hurried.

"But, ultimately, I feel the things we are doing are the right things for our insurance plan."

The county's health insurance costs, which total more than $2 million per year, have essentially come free to county employees for years, she pointed out.

The bleeding, she indicated, must stop.

"This was our ultimate goal," she said. "We knew it would be hard to take action on this, but it is the right plan for our employees - for ourselves - and for everyone in the future.

"Everything else is fodder, unfortunately," she said.

Brink, however, held fast to his objections, arguing that the county's employees deserved better.

County councilman Harry Nolting, who was sitting in the audience, agreed that there was certainly a breakdown in communication between the two entities but that he saw no other way forward.

"To vote no would cost our county $350,000," Nolting told him.

Considering the $1,400 traditional raise, that's more than county employees have gotten in a long time, Nolting said. Streeter agreed, saying it's usually closer to $1,000 per year, possibly less.

"We were trying to make up for last year when the money just wasn't there," Nolting said. "So we're not being unfair to anybody. Our communication is poor, yes, but that doesn't change the facts of the situation."

County clerk David Shelton continued in his admonishment of county elected officials, however, arguing that even though only an estimated 20% of county employees reach maximum total out-of-pocket expenses, that's still a lot of people who could actually see a decrease in their overall pay.

"One minor procedure," and they're down upwards of $500, he argued.

But his real issue, he reminded them, was the lack of communication with employees.

"They deserved a lot better," Shelton said.

Hinkle agreed but said the commissioners had to hold up their end of the bargain and change the overall health insurance plan.

"Our insurance hasn't changed for years," Hinkle said. "It was a mistake the way it was handled, but that's a moot point now.

"We must deal with the facts."

"We had an agreement, we did," Streeter added. "It was just rolled out poorly."