Is insurance saving Adams County money?

May 02--NATCHEZ -- With one more cycle of claims left for Adams County's self-insurance plan, the county has paid approximately $360,000 less in health insurance claims than budgeted.

County Insurance Agent Randy Hazlip presented the supervisors with a final contract for the 2017-18 self-funded insurance plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, which the county ultimately approved pending legal review.

Hazlip also provided numbers through the end of March for the previous year's cycle. The county's insurance plan runs from April to March. Hazlip said through March 31 with one more round of claims left, which could change the balance, the county has spent $1,640,790 of a budgeted $2 million for health care claims.

County Administrator Joe Murray said the county would not finish approximately $360,000 under budget, but he did say the county was likely to come in under $2 million.

"We're averaging about $140,000 a month," Murray said about insurance expenses. "Even if we had a $200,000 month, which is not going to happen, we will still be under budget."

Under the county's insurance plan, for each employee the county is required to pay up to $50,000 in medical coverage. After $50,000, reinsurance kicks in and pays the additional amount.

In negotiating cleaning up a potential gap in coverage under the previous plan, the county increased its coverage to a plan that will extend reinsurance coverage back an additional year, which requires a 4-percent increase in the county's administrative insurance fixed costs.

The plan extends liability for the reinsurance agent back to April 2016 so no claims get lost during a potential gap period.

The gap would have existed if the county had renewed a plan like approved in 2016-17 if an employee who had gone above the $50,000 deductible were to receive the medical services before April 1, but the bill not be submitted until April 1 or later.

District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray asked Monday if the 4-percent increase could potentially be a culprit in making the county's insurance plan go over budget.

Murray said under a self-funded insurance plan, the $2 million budget is a guess because predicting the health of employees is not an exact science.

Board President Mike Lazarus said the only way to guarantee insurance costs is to go with a fully insurance-funded plan, which he projected would cost the county approximately $2.2 million.

"You might pay a little higher, but it would guarantee what you spend," Lazarus said.

If employee claims are like this year and employees continue to use the county nurse practitioner, Lazarus said the self-funded insurance plan is worth the gamble.

"It all comes down to employee health," Lazarus said. "If we go over budget, it won't be because of the 4 percent. The 4 percent is nothing compared to patient care."

Murray said the 4-percent increase in administrative fixed costs would be $2,000 a month.

In other news, the county signed a declaration of emergency due to Sunday's storm, which knocked down trees county-wide, particularly in Cloverdale damaging houses and knocking out power.

Lazarus said Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford needed to stay on top of state representatives to make sure the county knows soon if the state will declare a state of emergency.

Lazarus said the county needs to know if it will be reimbursed for clean up for the storm because he does not want to see trees and limbs sitting in ditches for two to three weeks waiting on the state to move.

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Monday.

Gray said he wanted to commend Bradford and the other first responders for doing an outstanding job. Gray and Lazarus both were on scene helping during the clean up, Bradford said.

Gray said people really come out for one another during a crisis.

"It is amazing how when a tragedy hits the community how people come together to help everyone," Gray said. "Maybe we need to be in tragedy mode all the time so we can get on the same page and come together as a community so we can continue to help each other like we do when people really need you. That was awesome." -- The board approved free port warehouse exemptions for BASF and TDC, LLC. Board Attorney Scott Slover said if goods move in and out of a Natchez-Adams County Port warehouse in a certain amount of time, then it is not considered inventory and is exempt from tax. -- District 5 Supervisor Calvin Butler encouraged Morgantown and Broadmoor residents interested in recycling to use the county's waste facility on Foster Mound Road, which has recycling containers set up near the front of the site.

The county also has recycling containers at the waste facility on Upper Kingston Road.

The county canceled its curbside pickup trial, which went to 500 houses in Morgantown and Beau Pre. Only approximately 100 residences regularly utilized the service but the county was paying approximately $10,000 per year for 500 residences.

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