County health insurance costs to rise

By Brooks Taylor, Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County?s health insurance premiums will increase by 4.93 percent upon renewal on July 1, county supervisors were told Thursday during the annual review of the county?s health insurance coverage.

The county is part of a 29-member consortium of Iowa counties, cities and school districts. Denise Ballard of Two Rivers Insurance of Burlington, is the agent for the county and offered Thursday?s presentation. Henry County belongs to the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan pool.

Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield is the county?s health-insurance carrier, but part of the insurance program is self-funded by the county.

?Wellmark asked for a 9.43-percent increase, but because we are partially self-funded, the increase is not as great,? County Auditor Shelly Barber said.

Ballard said the group grew by several members in the past year ?which is good news for the members.?

As of July 1, the health-insurance monthly single premium will be $644.94, and the family monthly premium $1,459.85. The county pays the full single premium and the employee will pay 15 percent of the difference between the single and family premium for family coverage. The total annual cost of the increase is $1,328,924.

Currently, 82 county employees are covered. Eleven employees have the single plan and the remainder have family coverage.

Henry County?s loss ratio in 2016 was at 104 percent, with claims exceeding premium payments by just over $35,000. Over the past 10 years, the county?s loss ratio has averaged 107 percent.

?It doesn?t take much in claims to get you upside down,? Ballard said. ?You have a small number of employees and it only takes a cancer case or a premature birth to turn you upside down.?

Due to a hefty balance in the county?s self-funding account ($864,307), Ballard recommends a decrease of the county?s contribution from 31 percent to 24 percent.

There were no premium changes in the county?s dental, group life and accidental death and dismemberment or voluntary life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment premiums.

Sarah Berndt, county coordinator of disability services/general assistance director, gave her monthly report.

Berndt said the Iowa Department of Human Services (IDHS) is lobbying the Iowa Legislature to make jail diversion and crisis intervention services mandatory in counties. ?Those are incredibly expensive services. If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, we are going to be spending as much (on mental health and disability services) as we did before (the implementation of regionalized mental-health groups),? Berndt said.

She said she doesn?t know if the legislation will be seriously considered this year. However, she believes it is part of the IDHS? attempt to slice the fund balances of the regions. ?There is a lot of surplus fund balances around the state, about $30 million. The DHS doesn?t like fund surpluses.?

The Southeast Iowa Link (SEIL), the regional mental-health group of which Henry County is a member, has a surplus of $5M-$10M.

If crisis intervention core services are mandated in each county, there will be sticker shock for most counties, Berndt said. ?It will make it tough because we won?t be able to grow services. There is nothing on our horizon that we can expand to that will be cheap.?

Supervisors also appointed the county coordinator of disability services (Berndt) as the county?s designee for the state psychiatric process.

The board meets again in regular session Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 9 a.m. in the courthouse.