Insurance plans to change

May 18--The Monongalia County Commission voted Wednesday to make changes to the insurance benefits available to county employees -- the most substantial of which is an option to move to a health care savings account (HSA) plan.

The changes are in response to projections that showed the county facing an increase of up to 17 percent on insurance premiums. Those numbers prompted a number of meet-ings between the commission and representatives of insur-ance carrier Highmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield.

As a result, the county will offer a second insurance option to its employees through the creation of HSAs.

In an HSA plan, the employee would be responsible for paying the first $2,000 in medical costs -- $4,000 for a family plan -- out of the account each year. The insurance would then pay anything beyond that amount.

However, as an incentive to spur employee participation, the commission will provide $2,000 for the HSA of every employee who selects that option for the first year.

This means that, at least for the first year, a single employee would have no contribution deducted from their pay. An employee with a family plan would have to provide an additional $2,000, but, according to Commissioner Tom Bloom, the monthly contribution would be between $50 and $75 less than what is paid currently on a family plan.

Funds in an HSA carry over from one year to the next and can be earmarked to earn interest, which would be folded back into the account.

Regardless of which plan an employee selects, there will not be a premium increase for the first year.

The commission removed a previously unknown discrepancy that saw employees hired prior to 2001 paying lower premiums than employees hired after that point, explaining that it opened the county to claims of discrimination under the Affordable Care Act.

Instead, all employ-ees who opt to keep the existing plan will pay the pre-2001 rates for the next year. Bey-ond that, the commiss-ion will pass along any future rate increases to those employees.

Commissioner Sean Sikora explained that if just 10 percent of county employees opt for the new HSA plan -- which is the working projection -- the cost increase to the county drops from the projected 17 percent to about 6.3 percent.

"The more you get into it and start getting into the numbers, it really can be advantageous to our employees," Sikora said of the HSA offering. "We expect a slow participation rate in the beginning, but this is something that we really expect, going forward, to see a lot of our employees moving to, saving the county a lot of money and saving the employees a lot of money. It's one of the very rare situations when you talk about insurance that's a win/win."

Bloom said he thought the changes reflected the commission's effort to shield employees from the rising insur-ance costs that other entities have passed on to their employees.

Commission Pres-ident Ed Hawkins agreed, explaining that it'simportant to the commission that the value of the benefits package remains high.

"I've discussed this with employees. I discussed it with employees yesterday. Half the reason you take a job here -- let's be honest -- it's not the pay, it's the benefits," Hawkins said.

It was explained that insurance representatives will hold educational and enrollment sessions in the various county offices in the coming weeks.

The changes will take effect Aug. 1.

In other county news, the commission approved a $2.1 million contract with March Westin for the courthouse square renovation.

Architect Michael Mills said work on the square will begin on Monday.

The contract stipulates a 210-day window for the work.

The commission also:

Opened two bids for janitorial services for the courthouse and justice center.

The bids were given to Facilities Director Bobby Doyle for review.

Patton Building Services, of Morgantown, bid $119,940 ($9,995/month) for the justice center and $58,500 ($4,875/month) for the courthouse.

Blue Systems LLC, of Morgantown, bid $165,000 ($13,750/month) for the justice center and $75,000 ($6,250/month) for the courthouse.

Approved $5,000 for additional animal pens for the Monongalia County Fair animal barn.

Approved $1,000 to sponsor 20 flags in the Flags for Heroes fundraiser through the Rotary Club of Cheat Lake.

The commission said the first flag would be in honor of Sgt. Todd May and county employees could nominate names for the remaining 19 flags.

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