County aiming to curb health insurance costs
The change is projected to save the county
Here's how the premium hike will affect employees, according to a breakdown by
--Employee single --
--Employee plus spouse --
--Employee plus children --
--Family --
While employees will be paying more for their health insurance next year, commissioners also approved a few other measures on Tuesday that could help offset the cost, with an eye on long-range health benefits and savings to employees and the county.
According to Finney County Human Resources Director
With the commission's approval on Tuesday of a
The long-term benefit for that is employees being more aware of their health and more actively involved in maintaining it, Lucas said. And for the county, the hope is it will lead to healthier employees, she said.
The message the county wants to send, according to Lucas, is, "We're not just your employer, we want you to be well."
"We're just saying, 'Employees, we need to know your health.' Because we can't forecast what we don't know, and if we have an employee out there that never goes and gets biometrics, never goes to the doctor, and all of a sudden he's a full-blown diabetic or she's a full-blown diabetic, that's very costly to the plan," Lucas told commissioners.
To help those most at-risk of suffering from chronic conditions, commissioners also agreed to enter into an agreement with
According to information provided by Tria, examples of chronic conditions include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, respiratory problems, osteoporosis, heart disease, mental health conditions and chronic pain.
"There is a certain percentage of your population that do have ongoing chronic conditions that are not being managed, and they need help managing those conditions,"
Tria will target employees and their family members who suffer from chronic conditions and who are non-compliant, meaning they aren't regularly keeping up with their medications to treat their conditions.
An analysis by Tria identified 95 plan members as candidates for its Pharmacy Advocate Program, which provides patient-focused, confidential and collaborative care, to include on-going consultations and a medication summary plan that is shared with patients and their physicians. Of those 95, 72 were found to have two or more chronic conditions.
Tria's program is based on the belief that pharmacological counseling can make a difference in helping patients manage chronic conditions, which if untreated can lead to even higher health care expenses, which ultimately has an effect on insurance costs.
"If those particular chronic conditions continue to go untreated, you're going to continue to see your claims go up," Beins told commissioners.
Through Tria's program, participants would have access to prescription drug co-pay incentives, including zero-dollar co-pays for generic medications to treat chronic conditions, and 50 percent off (up to
Under the agreement, the county will pay Tria
Beins said 100 percent participation in Tria's program is unlikely, but even if only 20 employees participated, the projected savings for the county insurance plan is
A third change commissioners approved for 2019 is partnering with New Directions to provide its
Currently,
In addition to mental health services, which will continue to be provided by Compass counselors, New Directions can offer employees financial consultation, dependent and elder care resources, legal consultation and health and wellness coaching.
"We have numerous opportunities to help our employees or assist them, whether they need a will or need some financial guidance," Lucas said about New Directions' more robust offerings.
One final change to the county's health benefits approved by commissioners was the decision to offer a voluntary vision plan for employees, which would be at employees' expense.
The health care benefit changes will be effective
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