Insurance hike worries cash-strapped Clark County workers

April 28--JEFFERSONVILLE -- Keisha Reschar and her husband both work for the Clark County government. Her husband is supposed to make $32,000 a year as a Clark County corrections officer, but after he factors in taxes, Medicare, Social Security, life insurance, short-term disability insurance, a cancer and heart policy and -- the pièce de résistance -- a predicted $303 jump per month in his health insurance premiums, he'll be taking home just $800 per month to Reschar and their kids.

"I don't know who can live off that," Reschar said, her voice tightening.

Reschar's husband is one of an expected 241 Clark County employees who will be facing health insurance premium increases in August, ranging from $75 to $303 thanks to an updated plan adopted by the Clark County Commissioners last week.

Clark County's insurance policy is only going up by 1 percent more this year, according to the county's AssuredPartners insurance broker, Sandy Halstead, but a new flat rate that the county is paying for its employees' premiums has increased the share employees are paying as a whole by 15 percent: from 300,000 of a $4.1 million plan last year to almost $1.1 million of a $4.8 million plan this year. Some employees, like Reschar's husband, will be paying 37.7 percent of their premium, up almost 13 percent from last year.

With these changes, the county will end up paying up to $3.7 million for its plan this year; $109,423 less than it did last year and 15 percent less of the total cost of the plan. The county is paying $277.72 less than it did last year for Reschar's plan.

Not all employees are paying that much more for insurance. The 137 remaining workers on the county's plan are expected to pay only up to $19.31 a month more than they did the year before in monthly premiums. Their plan is the one with the highest deductible: $2,700 with a $3,700 maximum out of pocket cost and an extra $600 in flexible spending pay. The county has paid out the least amount of claims for the high deductible plan in the past, and is encouraging employees to choose that plan by contributing the same amount it does to it to all of the other plans.

In short, the county is contributing a flat rate to employee's insurance premiums instead of paying a set percentage of the premium, causing costs for most employees to rise dramatically.

Two county commissioners (Brian Glover and Connie Sellers) did not respond to a call and email for comment from the News and Tribune for this story, and one (Jack Coffman) said that he had been advised by the commissioner's attorney to not talk. Scott Lewis, the attorney, said that the commissioners did not want to "misspeak" about the complicated matter of insurance. Instead, the News and Tribune was referred to a letter sent to Clark County employees by AssuredPartners.

The letter stated that the commissioners adopted AssuredPartners' plan because their job is to adhere to the established county budget and to spend taxpayer dollars efficiently. Up until this year, the county has been struggling to budget under a ceiling required by the state, instead electing to fund some departments through Judgment Funding Bonds, meaning that the county had to refuse to pay the departments, instead keeping them running by waiting for the departments to enter into legal mediation with them.

But a bill passed last year solved the issue, and for the first year in at least eight years, departments won't need to be funded through mandates. That just means, though, that the county can finally operate at a "minimal essential level," according to Lewis, and the county has still decided to pay less for its insurance plan this year.

"In order to break the cycle of constantly having to borrow money every year just to meet the baseline budget, they elected to try to actually reduce the county cost this year," said Halstead.

But at what cost to employees?

MORE THAN A BOTTOM LINE

As the elected head of his department, Clark County Auditor Monty Snelling knows his employees work hard. But in 2016, the county's workers were only paid a median of $33,514, according to payroll deputy Cynthia Jones. They have also received inconsistent raises over the past few years, including this year's, which gave them a small increase in longevity pay and allowed employees to contribute 1.5 percent of their paycheck to their pensions, instead of 3 percent.

Snelling describes himself as conservative, but compassionate.

"And you can be both," he said. "Just because the bottom line looks good, that's not always the answer, and that's not always the solution, because you have to look at how it affects employees to get to that bottom line."

Seven Clark County employees besides Snelling contacted or spoke to the News and Tribune about how the new insurance plan would negatively affect them.

When Christy Alexander, a corrections clerk in the auditor's office, first heard about the increase, she traveled from department to department, telling people about the new plan.

"...You would not believe the stories people are telling," Alexander said. "There are so many people that were seriously in shock because they love their jobs, they love their boss, they love what they do, but they just financially can't afford the impact."

Alexander currently takes the $2,000 deductible plan, which features a $5,500 maximum out-of-pocket cost and a 20 percent coinsurance requirement. There is also a $1,000 deductible plan with a $4,500 maximum out of pocket cost and a 20 percent coinsurance requirement.

All employees have access to a free clinic, which is estimated to cost the county $289,260 to operate this year.

The AssuredPartners letter stated that the high deductible plan offers the lowest out of pocket exposure at the lowest price for Clark County employees. Indeed, in three different medical situations presented to employees by AssuredPartners, the high deductible plan ended up costing employees either the second-least amount of money out of pocket or the least. In two of the examples, however, that number was reliant on the $600 flexible spending pay that employees under the high deductible plan receive, which is not renewed after being depleted. If employees factor in premiums, the high deductible plan would cost them the least amount overall, but employees like Alexander don't think that they could afford the out-of-pocket costs.

Alexander needs to see specialists that she can't at the county's free clinic for her fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, and she has to take a $4,000 test every six months. But she knows some coworkers have it worse.

Jill Evans, who also works in the auditor's office, is currently dealing with stage four cancer. Recently, she's turned to GoFundMe for help with her medical costs, but has still been told to take the high deductible plan.

"Since I do have stage four cancer, and I will have to hit that deductible and then some every year, if I got a GoFundMe account to try to hit this one, how am I going to come up with the money?" she said.

QUESTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

The commissioners' reasoning for their new insurance plan doesn't convince Snelling.

The county council allotted $3.4 million to the commissioners for heath insurance this year, according to the budget -- actually a few hundred thousand less than what the plan might end up costing. Which leads Snelling to his point: the commissioners could ask the council for additional appropriations to help out employees. The county budget doesn't show a surplus this year, but there could be extra money in different departments, allowing room for the rearranging of funds.

The county is about to find more money in its budget in the next few years, too, as the lack of judgement funding bonds takes effect, said Snelling.

He isn't the only employee questioning what the commissioners could have done differently.

Clark County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Steele outlined his concerns in an email: Why does the county self-insure? Why can't the county partner with other government entities to join a larger risk pool? Where is the evidence that the county or its "agent of record" Assured Partners has actually sought out or bid insurance plans that are more affordable and provide better benefits?

Lewis said that the commissioners and AssuredPartners explored and pursued "all options" before deciding on the one they chose. One of the options they nixed was eliminating all other health plan options besides the high deductible one.

Halstead stressed that Clark County isn't the only entity with health insurance woes. She has clients that only offer plans with $5,000 deductibles.

"The rest of the population lives this every day, you know, and that includes taxpayers who are the ones who actually foot the bill," she said.

Snelling, though, is hopeful that the commissioners and county employees will come to some sort of resolution as long as communication isn't "shut off" completely.

The subject is expected to draw employees to the commissioners' next meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, at the Clark County Government Building. The meeting is open to the public.

The AssuredPartners letter also encouraged employee attendance at the county's yet-to-be-scheduled open enrollment meetings, where AssuredPartners experts will be available for assistance.

Danielle Grady is the business and economic development reporter at the News and Tribune. Contact her via email at danielle.grady@newsandtribune.com or by phone at 812-206-2137. Follow her on Twitter: @dgrady1222.

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