County supervisors to tackle insurance bids on Monday
Published 12:03am Saturday, February 11, 2012NATCHEZ — The Adams County Board of Supervisors will have a special meeting Monday to open bids for the county’s health insurance plan.
Adams County Board of Supervisors’ President Darryl Grennell said this is something the board does annually, and that the issue of health insurance costs will be approached with due diligence.
“This is not going to be like an overnighter,” Grennell said. “Those bids are going to have to be taken under advisement. There will be another meeting scheduled after then for the vendors to come in and go over their plans with us — insurance is a complicated (issue).”
Supervisors’ Vice President Mike Lazarus has in recent weeks spoken publicly about his concerns about county health insurance costs. The county is self-insured, and Lazarus said, “We are getting eaten alive.”
Insurance costs usually run approximately $2 million a year. However, Lazarus said one of the vendors submitting a proposal told him that at its current rates the county would run costs of approximately $2.2 million.
Saving money may ultimately mean the county has to raise deductibles or adjust family participation rates, he said.
“Right now, family participation is a flat $240,” Lazarus said. “If you have a wife and 10 kids, you can put a whole family on (the insurance plan) for that.”
But Lazarus also said that just because something is on the table doesn’t mean that will be the plan the county needs — for example, raising deductibles.
“(Raising the deductible) $50 a month more isn’t going to help (the county) a lot in the long run,” he said.
That’s why Lazarus said he will seek advice from insurance vendors who won’t be submitting bids.
“I have talked with some people who are really familiar with health insurance, and they are going to help us with it,” he said.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the supervisors’ meeting room on State Street.
