County approves allowing new employees to access health care coverage more quickly

Oct. 05--The Reno County Commission agreed Tuesday to alter the county's policy on when new employees are eligible to begin receiving health insurance through the county.

The current policy states employees cannot qualify for coverage until 60 days after they start employment, explained County Administrator Gary Meagher.

Also, the practice is that insurance coverage starts at the beginning of a month, so for an employee not hired on the first day of the month, that usually means more than 60 days and potentially up to nearly three months, Meagher said.

While employees leaving another job to come to the county have the option of continuing their previous insurance coverage through a Cobra Policy, the cost of that is often extremely high, said Helen Foster, with the HR Department.

"On one of our plans it cost $1,704.42 a month to continue coverage," Foster said. "On top of that are the deductibles."

The county's Human Resources Department has proposed allowing coverage to start on the first day of the next month after employment.

"Having coverage more quickly would be a favorable thing, helping with recruitment efforts," Meagher said.

Officials checked with the city of Hutchinson, Hutchinson Community College and USD 308, and all offer coverage starting within a month, Meagher said.

The board voted unanimously to change the policy, retroactive for those hired after Sept. 1.

In other business Tuesday:

-- The applicant seeking to rezone just under 70 acres at East Parallel Road, east of South Yoder Road, for a housing subdivision withdrew the item, set for a public hearing, from the meeting agenda.

The Reno County Planning Commission previously voted 7-0 to recommend denial of the rezoning, sought by Rental Sales Remodeling LLC of Wichita.

-- The commission approved a requested "letter of denial" sought by Interfaith Housing Services in connection with a grant application the agency is seeking.

Emily Hurst with Interfaith explained that the agency has applied for a $60,000 grant to help juveniles who are under supervision of Community Corrections or Court Services to save to buy a car, under an extension of IHS's IDA program.

The teens, 16 and older, would be required to hold a job, complete a 10-hour financial education course and save at least $1,000, which would be matched 2-1 by Interfaith.

The letter would state the county has insufficient funding itself to support the program, thus a denial of the availability of local funding.

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