Insurance overhaul pays off for Porter County

Times (Munster, IN)

Mar. 1--{{featured_button_text}}

VALPARAISO -- A major overhaul of health insurance coverage is paying off for Porter County government workers and taxpayers alike, the Porter County Board of Commissioners was told recently.

"We've actually increased the benefits," Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, said.

A new benefit added last year allows employees and family members covered by the county's health insurance plan to visit a clinic for free examinations and, in most cases, walk out with free prescription drugs they need.

All the employees in the Porter County clerk's office have taken advantage of this benefit, county attorney Scott McClure said. A majority of their family members have as well.

In its first year, the county has seen nearly 60% usage of the clinic, which is at about the break-even point, McClure said.

If usage increases to 80% of patients covered by the county's health insurance, that would save the county about $500,000. For perspective, that would be enough for the County Council to give employees a 3% raise, he said.

Insurance consultant Tony Bontrager, of Carmel, Indiana-based R.E. Sutton & Associates, said enrollment increased slightly last year, and overall costs dropped about 15% last year.

"I'm ecstatic," said Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center.

"Outside of salaries, the cost of health insurance for county government is far and away the biggest cost we have," Biggs said.

Over about four years, the county's cost of health insurance has dropped about $1.4 million, Good said.

The network of providers is larger, too, extending into Chicago so the county doesn't have to do "hand-to-hand combat" to negotiate charges for patients who seek care there.

Prescription drug costs rose 10%, Bontrager said, but there's not much the county can do about that.

"There's not a lot of transparency on the pharmacy side," Bontrager said.

For some medications, manufacturers offer rebates, but he wishes they would simply lower their initial prices accordingly.

Advancements in medicine are also making newer prescription drugs more costly.

"They're looking at the person's DNA and specifically targeting that," Bontrager said. That addresses different types of cancer and rheumatoid arthritis more effectively.

"They're great lifesaving and life-changing drugs, but they come at a cost," he said.

The commissioners approved a few changes to the county's health insurance coverage, including increase the individual deductible to $2,800, an increase of $100, for the high-deductible plan. IRS regulations require it, Bontrager said.

The commissioner also voted to require dialysis to be done in-network for the county's insurance to cover it. The little-used programs allowing employees to call a nurse employed by the insurance company for advice and offering advice to maternity patients will be eliminated. And a $25,000 maximum benefit was set for nonemergency airlifts.

State of emergency

The shoreline erosion emergency continues, so the commissioners extended the county's declaration of a state of emergency until March 17. The county can only declare an emergency for a 30-day period, Good said.

The declaration restricts travel on roads hugging the shoreline in lakefront communities where high lake levels have led waves to pound the shoreline mercilessly.

The county's Emergency Management Agency is keeping an eye on the erosion and its threats to homes, roads, septic and sewer systems and other structures.

JDC security

The Porter County Juvenile Detention Center is likely to be getting security upgrades. The Board of Commissioners approved a $152,168 contract with Videotec to replace existing security technology, subject to County Council approval.

In 2012, the technology there got "a patch" to keep it working until it could be replaced in 2020.

The new equipment includes intercoms, cameras and systems to lock and unlock doors.

To put this in perspective, similar upgrades at the Porter County Jail done by the same company cost 10 times as much, county attorney Scott McClure said.

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