Commissioners hope health insurance change saves money

Bruce Crosby

Editor

McCOOK, Neb. — Red Willow County commissioners are changing the county’s health insurance plans in hopes of saving money over the long term.

Whether that happens, however, depends on the number of employees who need it, thanks to the county having a self-insurance plan.

At the board’s request, Amber Anderson and Brad Swiggert of the Olson Group recommended that the county switch to Lucent as the administrator of the insurance plan, Magellan for drugs under the Midlands Choice network.

The previous administrator was Regional Care Inc. for healthcare and WellDyne for drugs under the CIGNA network.

Commissioner Randy Dean said he was especially pleased that Magellan had a broader formulary or array of drugs that would be covered.

The change will not be without upfront expenses, Anderson told the commissioners, 8% of expenses or perhaps $8,000 if, for example, $100,000 worth of claims has to be processed before the June 1 changeover.

County employees can expect letters and new medical insurance cards as well as meet

In an unrelated issue, Anderson told commissioners that a required audit of mental healthcare services would range from $4,000 to $6,000, and she recommended it be completed by the end of the year.

Medical costs are not a small expense for the county, amounting to $67,758 of the $345,916 in bills unanimously approved in Monday’s board meeting.

Another substantial cost is meals for prisoners, with Consolidated Correctional Food Services asking commissioners for a 10% increase effective July 1, which was approved. Chairman Earl McNutt said the price per meal would increase from $2.82 to $3.10 per meal, for an average of 35-40 meals per day.

A quarterly jail inspection later in the meeting showed 18 prisoners in jail on Monday, 6 women and 12 males, who would require 54 meals a day.

Under the consent agenda, the board also approved a special liquor license for Jeremy Loomis of Just One More Bar & Grill of Hayes Center, for a wedding reception on June 11 at the Red Willow County Community building, with an expected 400 in attendance.