Council approves contributions, deductibles for city health insurance plan

Dec. 3--Changes to the city's employee health insurance plan were approved at the Moberly City Council meeting Monday night, but not until after debate and discussion. An employee deductible increase and contribution increase from the city and employees was eventually approved by a vote of 4-1.

The city has seen its health trust fund nearly wiped out by a year of high claims, despite having approximately $1 million in the fund just three years ago. At the time of the council meeting, the fund had only approximately $160,000. Part of the council's approved resolution included a cash injection of about $220,000 to the health trust fund from budget cuts throughout various departments in the city for this fiscal year.

"We're cutting services and purchases in order to reinflate this fund," Jeffrey said.

The approved resolution also changes employee deductibles from $1,000 to $1,500 and increases the city's contribution by 17 percent each month. Jeffrey voted against the resolution, saying he wanted to see the employee deductible increased to $2,000. The other council members were against raising the deductible that high.

The council met with the city's insurance broker at a special meeting Nov. 18, when the council had only two days to decide whether to stay self-funded. Councilman Cole Davis said he would like to be able to see the numbers and comparisons earlier next year.

"We want to look at all the alternatives on this," Davis said. "This is a very important subject for our employees. I think that it deserves our attention. We need to look at how we can give them the most benefits without bankrupting the city."

Mayor Pro Tem Tim Brubaker and Councilman Austin Kyser agreed with Davis that they would like to see health insurance figures earlier next year.

"We're the ones who are going to get skewered for making a bad decision, so it would be nice to have all the information," Kyser said.

Kyser would like for the city to look into health savings accounts for employees to help offset the cost of the increased contributions deductibles, he said.

Insurance rates and figures for various plans often aren't released until October or November of a given year, because insurers want to look at the amount and cost of insurance claims throughout the year, City Manager Brian Crane said.

"It's hard to get information early in the game," he said.

The resolution changing the deductibles and contributions was passed, but the budget amendments for the cash injection to the trust fund have to wait for finalization at the next council meeting. The budget amendment was moved forward at the council's work session Monday night.

Earlier in the meeting the council also approved a $35,640 bid for the design and abutment of the Route M pedestrian bridge project. There are still several steps before construction on the pedestrian bridge will begin, but it is likely to start in the early spring, said Public Works Director Tom Sanders.

A resolution that could implement physicals for firefighters was also discussed at the council's work session. If approved, firefighters would be required to have a physical examination in city facilities, Fire Chief George Albert said.

"This is kind of like preventative maintenance," Albert said.

Albert said that if the physicals pass, Moberly would be one of the few municipalities in the state that has implemented the program.

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