Supervisors hear recommendation from Employee Health Insurance Committee

by Bob Beach

 

During its regular weekly meeting held Monday, November 10 instead of its typical Tuesday timeframe due to the Veterans Day holiday November 11, the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met with members of the Allamakee County Employee Health Insurance Committee to discuss the County's options in light of recent news that Gundersen Health Care, the County's health insurance provider, can no longer include Mayo Health Systems in its provider network. Speaking on behalf of the County Health Insurance Committee, Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour told the Board that while Gundersen Health Care had offered a discount on premiums for the remaining six months of the existing policy term, the announced change would mean that some County employees would be forced to change healthcare providers in order to stay in Gundersen Health Care's network.

Ridenour said that the Committee had requested quotes from a number of other health insurance carriers and that some were unable to do so in the timeframe allowed, while other carriers' quoted premiums were too high to consider, with the exception of Midwest Group Benefits, which offers a policy from Coventry Health Care. Ridenour explained that the Coventry plan that the Committee recommends is comparable to the County's current policy with Gundersen Health Care, but the Coventry plan does not include vision benefits while the Gundersen plan did; administrative fees for the flex benefit are included with the Coventry plan while the Gundersen plan charged an additional $2,500; and the premium for the Coventry plan is $642.06 per month versus the current premium of $596 for the Gundersen plan.

Ridenour said that the Coventry premium would be locked in for 18 months, which would simplify the budget process. He said that the Committee recommends changing insurance carriers to Coventry and an increase in the County's contribution from $596 per month per employee to $642.06 to cover the full premium cost of the Coventry plan. The Board agreed to meet with a representative from Coventry at its next regular meeting, which was scheduled for Tuesday, November 18.

In other business, the Board accepted the resignation due to retirement of Secondary Roads employee Kent Kregel following a 32-year career. The Board also canvassed the results of the general election held November 4 and certified the results as reported by Allamakee County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer.