Lee County insurance premiums to rise without employee participation in wellness program

June 13--MONTROSE -- Lee County is encouraging its employees to participate in a health and wellness program it provides by offering a discount on insurance.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an updated version of its self-funded insurance premiums for fiscal year 2019 during their weekly meeting Tuesday morning in Montrose.

Currently, most full-time county employees enrolled in a single health care plan pay about $20 per month for insurance. That will change July 1 if employees decide not to participate in the county's wellness program administered by Health Solutions.

Without taking advantage of the wellness program, the cost of a single health care plan will rise to $70 per month. The cost of family plans for most full-time employees would jump from the current rate of $95 per month to $145.

Rates for the sheriff's department and PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) employees will not be affected because their rates are locked in through union contracts.

The $50 insurance rate hike will be waived for employees who sign-up for the Health Solutions program, complete a physical, an online health assessment and a 30-minute consultation determining health risks, according to Justin Pieper of Group Benefit Partners, who attended the board of supervisors meeting last Tuesday.

Supervisors have noted in the past how reasonably priced the county's health insurance plans were compared to rates paid in the private sector.

Also Tuesday, supervisors canvassed results of the June 5 primary election by reading results from all 19 precincts aloud to ensure there were no discrepancies in vote totals recorded on Election Day.

Locally, the contested races were for District 3 supervisor, House District 83 representative and House District 84 representative.

In the contested Democratic supervisor race, Rich Harlow of Montrose defeated Larry Haynes of Donnellson 309 to 114 votes.

In the contested Democratic race for House District 83, Jeff Kurtz of Fort Madison defeated Bob Morawtiz of Fort Madison and Michael Hardy of Keokuk with 923 votes to 561 and 146, respectively.

In the contested Republican race for House District 84, which encompasses a small portion of northern Lee County, Republican Joe Mitchell of Wayland won with 600 votes across the district. He received 28 votes in Lee County.

At next Tuesday's meeting, supervisors will hold a public hearing on whether to borrow up to $133,933 over five years to purchase computers for sheriff's deputies' patrol vehicles.

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