County Commission Eyes Collaboration for Health Insurance Cost Reduction

Kim Coonan Proposes Governments Join Forces to Save Dollars

September 13, 2009
By: Dave Rogers

County Commissioner Kim Coonan has an idea: local governments should collaborate to save health insurance costs.

The Human Services Committee of the Bay County Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday at 4 p.m. to consider the concept.

"Based on an 'Economy of Scale' methodology, we should request all public sector employers within the county to join together in searching for a cooperative way of providing health insurance for our employees," Commissioner Coonan wrote the other board members.

Mr. Coonan asked the board to refer a recommendation to the Human Services Committee.

The county's fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget contains $7.7 million for health insurance costs for all active 647 employees.

General fund health insurance costs increased 8.1 percent over FY 2008 levels as a result of rates developed by the county's consultants, based in part on Blue Cross Blue Shield actuarial projections.

Total county health insurance costs for retirees is set at $1.43 million and general fund retiree health insurance costs are $769,037.

According to federal government reports, health care costs nationwide doubled from 1996 to 2006, and are projected to rise to 25 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2025.

As a result of skyrocketing health care costs and challenging economic times, Americans are finding stable sources of quality health insurance coverage harder and harder to find. Sixty-one percent of working age individuals and their families receive employer-sponsored insurance coverage, and this coverage is increasingly in jeopardy.

The primary source of instability in the employer-sponsored insurance market is the decrease in employers offering health insurance coverage to workers and their families. Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of firms offering health insurance coverage to their employees declined from 69 to 63; for firms employing less than 10 workers, the decline was even greater -- from 57 to 49 percent.