Health insurance changes for county employees
County employees can expect to see changes in their health insurance plans when open enrollment for 2021 happens later this year.
In April, the Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved entering into a contract with SIHO Insurance Services, the county’s third-party administrator for their health insurance plan, for 2021.
Before the pandemic hit, the commissioners had intended to accept requests for proposals for a new health insurance policy as well as look at working with other brokers.
At their Aug. 19 meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to proceed with eight of the nine strategies recommended from SIHO Insurance Services to help cut costs. The commissioners opted to not include spousal carve-outs next year and will implement that in 2022, said Human Resources Coordinator Melissa Stinson at the Sept. 2 meeting.
“That gives everyone a year to start looking at their policies and if your spouse is carved out because they can get insurance from somewhere else,” she said.
“This only happens to people who have insurance with their employers.”
One of the strategies the commissioners will implement is to increase deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for the traditional preferred provider organization plans, which could save the county around $252,000 based on claims last year.
Increasing premium contributions is another strategy that could potentially save the county around $54,000 based on the current enrollment.
The plan also encourages participants to utilize a Health Savings Account with the county increasing its contribution to employees’ accounts, which would hopefully encourage them to seek medical treatment in-network, like at the Brown County Health and Wellness Center.
At the Sept. 3 meeting, Stinson estimated the total cost savings with implementing the strategies could be around $310,000. But the biggest savings could be seen when reinsurance quotes are received later this fall in October.
“The reinsurance is the real costly part of our plan,” commissioner Diana Biddle said.
“We have to make our plans look the most appealing to reinsurance companies so when they start making their bids, which will be coming up in just a few weeks, that puts us out there with a better plans, better options, more affordable,” Stinson added.
The administrative service agreement is pending legal review before it is formally approved. Open enrollment for county employees will happen in November.
Stinson said the exact amount the county saves by making the plan changes will not be known until next year. “Because we don’t know how many people are going to move to HSA, we don’t know what claims will look like next year, we have no idea what reinsurance will look like next year and we have a lot of people that will be dropping off that have cost us funds in the past,” she said.
The county pays monthly fixed costs to SIHO for third-party administrator fees at around $4,000, which will not increase next year.
“Then the other part of that administrative cost is the premium for the reinsurance, which is like $45,000 a month, so until we find out what the reinsurance is going to be (we will not know the premium),” Biddle said.
“Last year it cost us almost cost us $700,000 just for the reinsurance. We only had one company that was willing to take us last year, so we didn’t have a lot of options.”
Biddle said there are only four companies who provide reinsurance, which limits the options.
Brown County Council President Dave Redding also attended the Sept. 2 virtual meeting. He reiterated the county is committed to cutting costs while also making sure employees have access to needed care and prescriptions.
“I think we’re committed to that for our Brown County team to make sure that we don’t compromise any of that in our effort to come up with a better cost solution here,” he said.
Changes along creeks coming to flood maps
The Brown County Area Plan Commission is pursuing a change to the county’s flood insurance rate map that was first started by the Town of Nashville several years ago.
The changes relate to the north fork of Salt Creek.
Planning Director Chris Ritzmann told the Brown County Commissioners about her department’s plans to file an application for a letter of map change at the Sept. 2 meeting.
“When we updated the maps in 2016, the maps that were presented to the county were not satisfactory along the north fork of Salt Creek. There are have been many more properties in the floodplain and the floodway than have previously been,” Ritzmann said.
The north folk of Salt Creek runs near NAPA Auto Parts, the Circle K gas station, Brown County Tire and Auto and the former Creekside Retreat, which had to close after being flooded multiple times.
Ritzmann said the changes will officially be presented to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and then they will be automatically adopted into the county’s ordinance.
“That was most definitely needed,” Commissioner President Jerry Pittman said.
“It’s a great move,” Ritzmann added.
The updated floodplain maps can be viewed online by visiting: https://indnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=f7f42fc793a7410f8939bf516b3e492b.
Copies are also available in the planning commission office.
Former Town Manager Scott Rudd and the Nashville Town Council first started the process to change the map around 2016.
New members approved for jail lease corporation
The Brown County Commissioners unanimously approved appointing two women to the county’s jail lease corporation to serve in their late fathers’ seats.
Andi Bartels and Michelle Kritzer are the two new members to the corporation approved by the commissioners on Sept. 2. Bartels’ father, Andy Rogers, and Kritzer’s father, Billy Joe, were the two original members on the corporation responsible for holding the lease that built the Law Enforcement Center.
The county is in the midst of refinancing the jail lease and needed to update the corporation’s members as part of the process.
Refinancing the lease could cut between $250,000 and $300,000 off the remainder of the lease, which was set to be paid off by 2029. Commissioner Diana Biddle said refinancing will mean the lease will paid off about a year earlier than scheduled. The lease interest rates will drop from around 4 percent to between 1.4 and 1.6 percent.
“That is almost free money,” commissioner Jerry Pittman said.
The expected savings would happen after additional costs and fees are paid for refinancing, Biddle added.
Superintendent: Prep work continues for paving
Brown County Highway Department crews are continuing to complete prep work for paving this year.
Highway Superintendent Mike Magner told the Brown County Commissioners on Sept. 2 that crews were finishing up prep work on roads that are set to be paved using grant funding.
Lick Creek Road from Cottonwood Road to State Road 45, all of Becks Grove Road and Mt. Liberty Road from Bellsville Pike to Rinnie Seitz Road are set to be paved using $1 million in matching grant funding from the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossings program.
Magner said that local work will also be done on minor roads as crews pave the major roads.
The goal was to have the roads paved this year as weather allows, but Magner said on Sept. 2 that there have been schedule delays caused by COVID-19.
“We may not get them all done this year, but we have 18 months to wrap it up, so as long as we get them paved in the 2021 summer session we’ll be good,” Magner said.
Magner said he plans to apply for more Community Crossings grant funding next year if the state opens up an application window.
