Floyd County commissioners OK hike for employee health plan
♦ Officials say the increase in premiums is to help offset a rise in claims costs.
Floyd County commissioners are increasing the premiums for their employee health insurance plan as a way to offset an increase in claims over the past year.
The 5% increase will mean another $13.40 a month for individuals, $24.04 for employee and spouse coverage, $22.01 for the employee and children plan and $34.20 for family coverage.
The updated insurance plan also includes a $ 50 spousal surcharge per pay period. That kicks in when a spouse can get insurance through their own employer but chooses to be added to the county employee’s plan.
“This will not solve our claim issue, it’s a relatively minor increase,” County Manager Jamie Mccord said.
The county projects to have $ 8.3 million in claims filed by employees by the end of 2020, which would be over $1 million more than 2019’s $7.2 million in claims.
Mccord and commissioners discussed different ways they could address the rise in costs, such as promoting the county wellness program, reviewing the coverage offered and looking at other insurance companies to see what they do. The county’s plan is self-funded.
“I had discussions with neighboring county managers and it was a little bit mixed ... Insurance is a necessity and I am concerned about it going up,” McCord told the county commissioners.
“We had a long discussion on wellness at our last meeting and you guys approved a new wellness program,” he continued. “So, hopefully, when that takes effect, it will provide some relief and make our workforce more healthy.”
Chair Scotty Hancock said they could begin promoting the Rome Floyd Wellness Center as well, to help employees with medical costs. The clinic is a free service for Floyd County and City of Rome employees to use whether they’re covered by the offered insurance or not. The service is overseen by Redmond Regional Medical Center.
The board also voted to appoint Commissioner Allison Watters as the Floyd County voting delegate to the Association County Commissioners of Georgia’s legislative conference.