CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Plenty of questions were asked and answered about health insurance Tuesday morning in the Kanawha County Courthouse.
The county commissioners held a working meeting with a group of county employees on the potential switch from the county’s insurance plan to the state-operated Public Employees Insurance Agency (PEIA).
In the meeting, Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper stated that sustaining its current system is no longer an option, as it is expected to increase approximately $700,000 annually, around 15-percent.
“It is so serious when you deal with people’s health insurance,” Carper said of holding the meeting. “The costs are going up, it’s out of control. You see this from one end of the spectrum to the other, whether it’s the private sector or the public sector.”
According to Kanawha County, the current healthcare costs for the fiscal year 2019-2020 sits at $9,030,000, a $2,876,743 increase over the last five years. The General Revenue Fund sits at $44,965,113 which is only an increase of $662,938 increase in five years.
Kathryn Simmons, the Vice President of Operations at insurance broker Assured Partners laid out the numbers for seven possible PEIA plans during the meeting. She received many questions including about prescription drug medications, dental and vision, chiropractic visits, deductibles, and where someone can go to the doctor.
“There’s always a lot of concern and some anxiety for employees whenever they are facing change and the unknown,” she said. “The county commissioners should be applauded for making this more of a public forum and for letting the employees come in and asking questions.”
Of the seven PEIA plans, Simmons said the PPB Plan A is most similar to the county’s current self-pay system. That plan features the deductible closest to the county’s current deductible, as well as similar out of pocket max and prescription drug coverage.
Simmons said that the county could save around $3 million a year. Carper, who previously told there is plenty of blame to go around for rising health care costs, said Tuesday those savings could help what could be increased premiums for workers.
According to Simmons, 42 counties in the state and over 700 non-state agencies are currently on PEIA health insurance.
Carper said the county is doing their due diligence on PEIA. He cleared the air to county workers Tuesday saying the county contacted PEIA first and not the other way around.
“We’ve talked with those on PEIA, that have recently gone to PEIA,” Carper said. “We have had one deputy that has reached out to his counterparts in other counties. They seem fairly satisfied with it, assuming you can ever be satisfied with insurance benefits.”
A scheduled next meeting date regarding health insurance has not been scheduled but Carper said it could happen within the next five working days. He told MetroNews he wants as many working sessions as possible to ” give the employees an opportunity to understand it, appreciate the consequences and then tell us what they think.”
Carper said he would like to bring the proposal to a vote sometime before the commission votes on its budget for the next fiscal year.
Changes may occur on July 1.
