The Carroll County Board of Supervisors voted during Monday’s meeting to leave the employee portion of health insurance premium costs unchanged for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 and began the process of creating a committee to take a more in-depth look at their options for future years. Due to relatively low usage rates by employees, Carroll County will see a zero-percent increase for FY23, but the supervisors had been considering reducing how much of the premium cost the county pays to 75 percent from 80 percent. Supervisor, Gene Meiners, says it is only a matter of time before insurance costs sharply increase.
Auditor, Kourtney Payer, notes the county’s health insurance provider, Wellmark, proposed a zero-percent increase for FY23, so it will not have an immediate impact on next year’s budgets. Supervisor, Scott Johnson, says it does not seem fair to punish employees for what the insurer considers responsible use of their benefits.
Currently, Carroll County offers two health insurance plans: a low-deductible with higher premiums or a high-deductible with lower premiums. The issue is the difference in premium cost between the two plans is not enough to entice employees to take on the perceived risk of a significantly higher deductible. Supervisor, Dean Schettler, suggests they look into adjusting the higher plan to make it more attractive.
The supervisors then approved a motion to freeze employee health insurance premiums for FY23 with the possibility of adjusting the high-deductible plan. They also began the process of creating an Insurance Committee to investigate the issue further with input from supervisors, department heads and county staff.
