For the week of December 24 - 30, 2003

Ketchum eyes big savings in medical plan

City seeking to solidify financial status

---

By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum city officials are expecting to realize substantial savings next year with the implementation of a new employee healthcare insurance policy.

Ron LeBlanc, city administrator, said Monday that the city in 2004 will likely commence a series of changes to its employee healthcare policies that could ultimately save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

LeBlanc said the city in January 2004 is expected to receive a firm offer from health-insurance provider Blue Cross on what the costs will be for a new healthcare plan for all 77 Ketchum city employees.

"We’ve already received a soft quote," LeBlanc said. "We expect to get a hard quote from them in the beginning of January."

LeBlanc noted that soft—or nonbinding—cost quotes for previously proposed Blue Cross plans were "anywhere from 30 to 50 percent less" than the city’s existing Blue Shield plan.

Employee health insurance costs have become a substantial burden on the city in recent years, prompting high-level officials to seek changes.

The city’s total healthcare plan expenditures were forecast to surge 16 percent—to more than $1.1 million—in the current 2003-2004 fiscal year. The $1.1 million figure represents approximately one-eighth of the city’s total projected General Fund expenditures in 2003-2004.

City employees are currently covered by a Regence Blue Shield of Idaho plan that provides 100 percent coverage of physician services, 90 percent coverage of hospital costs, a $200 deductible and a $1,333 annual out-of-pocket maximum.

The entire plan is estimated to cost the city approximately $90,000 per month.

The city’s existing Blue Shield plan was renewed on Aug. 1. Mayor Ed Simon encouraged City Council members to continue the plan, noting that it is a premium package that is no longer offered and would become void if adjustments were pursued.

However, after contemplating the costs of the plan, council members eventually instructed LeBlanc to convene a special committee to study whether changes could save money without greatly impacting healthcare coverage for city employees.

In recent months, a committee that includes three Ketchum citizens, three city employees, Simon, LeBlanc, Councilman Baird Gourlay and City Clerk Sandra Cady has convened to study the issue.

After the city solicited proposals for managing its health insurance program, the council voted on Dec. 1 to appoint a new "agent of record," Starley-Leavitt Insurance.

LeBlanc said this week that the city will likely employ a new insurance plan by Feb. 1.

The administrator noted that he will likely propose that the city pay for increased costs to employees—potentially incurred by higher deductible rates—through a fund established with a portion of the overall savings the city realizes. Any excess savings not used within the insurance program would be funneled into the city’s General Fund, he said.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.