4/29/13 County insurance plan will not be affected by AHCA in 2013

  • By Nick Sabo
  • April 29, 2013
  • 319
                        
SUMMARY: County will be required to offer health insurance premiums below 9.5 percent of full time employee's salaries The county probably won’t see too many changes in its health insurance plan due to the Affordable Healthcare Act next year. The Holmes County Commissioners Monday April 29 met with Mike McDowell, of Huntington Insurance, and Mike Sommers, with Hummel Insurance Agency, for an update on how the Affordable Healthcare Act (AHCA) will affect the county’s plan. The county plan currently has about 170 policies covering 400 people, including employee’s spouses and children, human resources director Brenda Ramsier said. McDowell said the county’s plan should be “business as usual” for the remainder of the year. Big changes could be in store for 2014, when “the teeth of it is really kicking in”, McDowell said. Sommers said the county will be classified as a large employer group under AHCA. As such, it will have three options: continue on as it has been, do not provide a plan, or offer a plan that is outside AHCA requirements. Sommers said the first option would essentially require the county plan to continue as it is. Under the AHCA, the county is required to provide a plan that does not cost an employee with single coverage more than 9.5 percent of their salary. The cost of single coverage for the county plan currently is within AHCA requirements, Sommers said. The second and third options would require the county to pay a fee per full time employee. Without providing a plan, the county will be fined $2,000 per employee. If they provide a plan that goes above the 9.5 percent salary requirement, the county will be fined $3,000 per full time employee. The county’s current carrier is Aultcare. Sommers said “all the plans on the Aultcare shelf of products” meet AHCA requirements. McDowell said there are still many unknowns for the future under AHCA, and said it is “definitely an elephant that you eat one bite at a time.” McDowell said the $2,000 per uninsured employee fee is the subject of much speculation, as it costs an average of $10,000 to insure an employee. McDowell said he expects the fee to go up. Commissioner Joe Miller said the county will continue to provide health insurance to its employees if it is feasible. “It’s certainly our desire to provide our employees and their families with insurance,” Miller said. “As long as it is affordable we can do it. It’s not our responsibility , but it is our desire.” Also Monday, commissioners met with Ron Zitek, of North Pointe Engineering, to review progress on the land fill post-closure. Zitek said some work remains at the landfill, including grass seeding and dredging of two sediment ponds. The seeding will probably be completed this year, and the ponds should be addressed as soon as possible, Zitek said. Zitek further said the county can probably take over quarterly post-closure inspections. By doing the inspections in-house, the county will save around $3,000 per year. The landfill was capped and closed last year. The county will be responsible for post-closure monitoring for the next 30 years.


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