For the week of January 23 - 29, 2002

County rejects cheaper medical insurance plan

Benefits of plans matter of interpretation

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By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer

The Blaine County Commission declined to switch to a new group medical insurance plan for county employees even though the plan proposed to save the county $27,000 this year. Medical insurance cost the county $616,000 in 2001.

The plan also proposed to save 103 employees from $84 to $1,440 each in 2002. Another 17 employees would have paid from $75 to $272 more this year under the proposed plan, said Blaine County Clerk Marsha Reimann.

To help the commission consider the complicated issue, the commission hired two third-party consultants in December to review the county’s current plan provided by Blue Shield and compare it to the proposed plan by Blue Cross.

"The plans quoted are very similar; one is not significantly different from the other," stated a statement from Sandra Brown Insurance, of Ketchum.

Western Benefits Solutions, in Boise, found that "the bids are very close in both benefits offered and costs. The difference in cost is $26,678," the company calculated, which "allows a significant edge to Blue Cross."

In light of those statements, Blaine County Commissioner Sarah Michael recommended that the county switch from Blue Shield to Blue Cross during a Jan. 7 hearing. But Commission Chairwoman Mary Ann Mix and Commissioner Dennis Wright declined to vote for the change.

"Most people would get a decrease here, except for 17, and I happen to be one of those 17. And I’m not going to pay more, so I’m not going to second that motion," Wright said.

Mix rejected the Blue Cross plan because the company might be offering a low price this year to get the county’s business with the intention of raising the price next year, she said.

Michael suggested in the meeting that, everything else being equal, state law required the commission to accept Blue Cross’s lower bid.

Title 31, Chapter 40, of Idaho law, requires counties to procure services from bidders "quoting the lowest price." However, Mix said she had discussed the matter with the county prosecuting attorney, who said that in some cases, such as this one, "we’re not required to take the lowest bid at all." She did not elaborate.

Mix said also that switching plans after Jan. 1 would be too complicated for employees because it would mean they would have to file again any claims they had already submitted this year.

The commission, however, at first approved a switch to Blue Cross on Dec. 10 on a two-to-one vote with Mix voting against a switch. But Michael withdrew her Dec. 10 motion later that month, which canceled the switch, after Blaine County Clerk Marsha Reimann requested a third-party review of the plans. It was the review that delayed a possible change until after the first of the year.

Wright voted in favor of Blue Cross on Dec. 10 and then voted against it Jan. 7 even though the reviews appeared to support a change. During an interview at Hailey his office last week, he said that Blue Cross had a prescription card plan that was less flexible, and potentially more costly for some individuals, than Blue Shield.

Also, he did not want to throw the 17 employees "to the dogs" by increasing their insurance premiums so that the other 103 employees, and taxpayers, could save.

Reimann was opposed to the switch and believed most other employees were, too. The existing Blue Shield offers a Wellness program that allowed 44 out of 89 employees to receive regular physical examinations last year without having to pay the usual $300 deductible. Under the proposed Blue Cross program, employees would have had to pay the $300.

Also, most employees would pay more for prescriptions under Blue Cross, Reimann said. Under Blue Shield, a group of 35 employees, for which prescription records were available, paid $4,313 for drugs last year, she said. Under Blue Cross, the group would have paid $5,527.

"For the services I see most people using, they’re better off with Blue Shield," said Leslie Londos, a county employee who oversees the medical insurance plan.

But Charlie Foss, the Sun Valley insurance broker who would have made a commission of 3 to 5 percent on premiums if the deal had gone through, told the commission it was "very irresponsible" to reject the Blue Cross plan.

The county pays "way more than it should" for medical insurance, he said. Under Blue Cross, the county could have entered into a "buy down" program, which would carry a higher deductible for employees that the county would buy down to current levels when employees made a claim. The plan would be more risky, but ultimately could save the county another $62,000 annually, Foss said.

Also, he believes the county could self-fund its employees’ medical insurance, which would also save money.

Switching to Blue Cross would allow self-funding and buying down, he said.

"I think it’s something the taxpayers of this county need to know," he said.

 

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