Porter County Council examines health coverage for employees
By James D. Wolf Jr. Post-Tribune correspondent February 7, 2012 9:40PM
Updated: March 11, 2012 8:26AM
VALPARAISO — The Porter County Council reviewed its health-care insurance situation Tuesday and looked at some possible options for changes.
The county self-insures when it comes to employee medical coverage, and has for decades, using Anton Insurance of Chesterton and Valparaiso to handle claims and logistics.
However, the number of people using county insurance has been increasing over the years, and so have costs, and federal laws have changed what is expected.
“There’s a lot that’s gone on in the insurance industry in the last 20 years, and we owe it to ourselves to look at this,” Council member Jim Biggs said.
Council member Jim Polarek questioned why the county is insured for a maximum of $125,000 per person. Mike Anton of Anton Insurance said the county’s plan is at 81 percent for claims, but the expected level should be 80 percent, so the system is solid but in a bad part of the cycle.
He noted more dependents are coming on to the plan without more revenue.
“Health-care reform is increasing the costs,” he said.
The county offers three options of coverage, and when the plan was made, they assumed more people would gravitate to the middle plan, but 490 employees use the most generous plan, and only 60 use the middle plan.
In order for Porter County to retain its status and not have to cover what’s new under health-care reform, it should offer a fourth plan, Anton said.
One of the presenters at the meeting was ClaimLinx of Cincinnati, and Benefits Consultant Tim Hare said he could save the $4 million without reducing coverage.
It would be a combination of reducing the risk by bringing in backup insurers, using of prescription cards from drug manufacturers and moving those needing major work, such as heart transplants, to Medicare or the Indiana children’s insurance.
The council asked Anton to look into whether ClaimLinx could work with the county plan.
At meeting’s end, Council member Jeremy Rivas attempted to introduce an ordinance that would end providing health insurance to members of the Porter County Council and Board of Commissioners.
Whitten said the council could not vote on it because it wasn’t on the agenda and the council’s attorney and members hadn’t seen it before that moment. Ordinances need to be on the agenda before an Indiana governing body can legally vote on them.
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