Health insurance premiums won’t change for Morgan County employees

July 11--Morgan County employees will not see an increase in their health insurance premiums in fiscal 2019, commissioners said Tuesday.

When the fiscal year starts in October, employees also will receive free contraceptives for women and a wellness check that includes a free annual physical.

While most governmental entities and private businesses have had insurance rate increases, County Commission Chairman Ray Long said county employees have not had an increase in the eight years he has been in office.

The commission on Tuesday approved employee rates of $167 a month for families and $64 a month for single employees. Commissioners also unanimously approved county contributions of $1,200 for family coverage and $460 for single coverage.

Long said the county contributions also will not change in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2019. Morgan County has 388 full-time employees, and 335 participate in the insurance plan.

"We hope our employees appreciate the coverage because the health insurance is going up for most businesses and governments," Long said. "This is something we can be proud of."

Morgan County is keeping the same rates, $1,367 a month for a combined employee-county payment on a family plan and $524 a month for a single plan.

However, Morgan County still has higher rates than Decatur and Limestone County, even though both had increases in each of the last three years.

Decatur Human Resources Director Richelle Sandlin said her city's combined monthly rates are $1,035 for a family plan and $419 for a single plan. A single employee pays $40.50 a month for health insurance.

Limestone County Administrator Pam Ball said her county's fiscal 2018 rates were $1,097 for a combined employee-county payment on a family plan and $450 on a single plan.

Limestone County's rates have increased between $10 and $16 annually for each employee in those three years. Limestone didn't have increases in 2014 and 2015.

Fiscal 19's rates aren't available yet for Decatur and Limestone County.

The National Conference of State Legislatures said the increased cost of health insurance "is a central fact in any discussion of health policy and health delivery."

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The group says annual premiums reached $18,764 for 2017, which was up 3 percent from 2015 for an average family coverage with workers on average paying $5,714 toward the cost of their coverage.

The conference said the average increase before subsidies was 25 percent for those who bought insurance from an exchange or a private market plan for 2017.

Morgan commissioners said they've avoided increases with in-house management of the insurance plan through Blue Cross/Blue Shield and urging employees to take advantage of a wellness plan.

Sandlin said it helps Morgan County that it's in a self-managed plan. Decatur is in a local government provider plan.

Morgan Commissioner Ray Stisher said they've done well in negotiating rates with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and they've been able to manage through the ever-changing nature of health insurance.

"We've kept a really a close eye on expenses," Stisher said. "We've made some decisions that, in all honesty, were a gamble on our part, but they paid off for us."

A couple of years ago, only 14 employees were participating in Morgan County's health plan, and the commissioners were close to cancelling the plan. Commissioner Randy Vest said he had second thoughts about cancelling it and urged the commission to allow it to continue.

"I realized our employees didn't know about it," Vest said. "We needed to promote it better."

Stisher said employees are also urged to use Teledoc, a program in which employees can call at any time and get a doctor's advice and prescribed treatment over the phone.

Long said the provider recommended the county increase rates last year because there were so many claims, but employees are using Teledoc more often, so claims are down in 2018.

"The key is keeping them out of the ER or urgent care," Stisher said.

The commission on Tuesday also voted to join the class-action lawsuit, Kane County, Utah, vs. the United States, over the right to recover money under the Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act.

Long said the county likely would only make about $300 a year if it wins. The county would have to pay any legal fees if the plaintiffs win the case, and he expects the legal fees to be minimal if that occurs.

-- [email protected] or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.

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