Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
County switching to Premera for medical benefits as prices rise
DAVENPORT—Lincoln County’s 12-year stretch of self-funding medical benefits will be no more at the end of 2022. Rising costs and unsustainable stop-loss insurance rates have forced the county commissioners to switch toward a medical insurance program through Premera.
Though the least expensive option on the table, the switch will still lead to increased rates for county employees.
“Your total cost per employee per month is over $1,200,” said Dan Fisher, Senior Vice President of Employee Benefits for county insurance broker HUB International at the county commissioner’s meeting Monday, Oct. 3. “These rates are the new normal…Yakima and Whatcom County are at $1,500. Grant County, your neighbor, is $1,450.”
An increase in claims due to employees aging and having more medical issues has led to rising costs for the county that are no longer viable to self-fund.
“If you are unable to replenish your reserves, Premera is your only option,” Fisher said.
The decision didn’t last long for the commissioners.
“We’re going away from the self-funded program,” commissioner Scott Hutsell said. “Now we’ll figure out the funding piece. How much will the employees versus the county pay?”
Fisher and HUB account executive provided the county with five quotes for various plans, some of which are concerning figures for employees and the commissioners.
Offering Premera coverage with vision would cost between $896.73 and $943.35 a month for employee-only coverage, $2,017.65 and $2,122.54 for employee and spouses covered, $1,569.27 and $1,675.14 for employees and children covered and $2,690.19 and $2,830.05 for employees to cover themselves and their whole families.
Without vision, rates would be between $820.38 and $918.91 for single employees, $1,845.86 and $2,067.55 for employees and spouses, $1,435.66 and $1,608.09 for employees and children and $2,461.14 and $2,756.73 for whole families per month.
Fisher said rates will increase for employees if other employees leave and advised younger employees could select lower plans that the county could potentially absorb.
But how much of that cost the county will indeed absorb is up to the commissioners, who asked for proposals from both bargaining units representing the Sheriff’s Office and Public Works by the next commissioner meeting Monday, Oct. 17 before making employee vs. county cost decisions.
“What we’re bargaining for is dollars toward the program, not the program itself,” Hutsell said. “We want input from everybody on where we should be but that’s where we’re at between now and probably our next meeting is where that will be.”
The conclusion of the county’s self-funded insurance plan will mark the end of a 12-year run that Fisher said is a “miracle.”
“I never thought we’d be here talking about this,” commissioner Rob Coffman said.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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