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Executive Director's
Report - Volume 51, Number 5 - 2007
Confused over health insurance?
Currently, 46 of the 67 county commissions secure group health insurance benefits for their officials and employees through participation in the Local Government Health Insurance Plan (LGHIP), which is administered by the State Employees Insurance Board (SEIB). There are also about 170 municipalities and 284 other government-related entities participating.
The group health insurance plan available to state employees is administered by the SEIB. A similar plan for teachers is administered by the Public Education Employees’ Health Insurance Board (PEEHIP).
There are obviously local government employees, state employees and education employees found in every county in the state. In fact, there are frequently found county employees, state employees and education employees working side-by-side in the same courthouse.
As human nature and circumstances would have it, it is not uncommon for these employees to compare their health insurance. They discuss both benefits available and premiums paid.
A frequent occurrence is for a county employee to come storming into a county commission office, right after one of these conversations, demanding to know why he or she is having to pay so much more for health insurance than their friend down the hall, who is a state or education employee. And of course, the county employee will complain about differences in benefits.
There are significant, though not monumental, differences in benefits paid through the three plans. There are differences in drug benefits, co-pays and deductibles, but none significant enough to cause any of the plans to be labeled “insufficient.” Most would agree, however, that the LGHIP is not as “plush” as the other two in terms of benefits. It is, however, by any reasonable comparison, a very good plan.
Government employers seem to have the most difficulty in explaining what appears to be a significant difference in the premiums paid among the three plans.
A state employee may be heard to say, “I only pay $160 a month for my family coverage.” A nearby county employee may be heard to say, “Well, that’s not fair, I have to pay more than $400 a month for family coverage.”
The listing on page 20 shows the respective premiums (costs) paid for individual and family coverage under each of the three plans, effective Oct. 1, 2006. (Premiums for all three plans were increased Oct. 1, 2007.)
The numbers represent the premiums for medical insurance only. They do not include the premiums for additional coverages, such as for dental and vision. The premiums are for active employees and not for retired employees. Also included in this listing are the amounts of the respective premiums actually paid by the governmental employers and the state or education employees.
Not listed are the amounts paid by the local governmental employers participating in the LGHIP or the amounts paid by their employees. The amounts are not listed because they vary greatly. Please see chart at right.
This listing reveals important information. First, the premiums for health insurance provided through these three programs do not vary greatly when viewed in terms of benefits provided.
Second, state and education employees do not pay much out of their own pockets for health insurance because the state’s general fund or education fund pays most of the premium.
Most county commissions and other entities participating in the LGHIP pay all or a substantial portion of the premium for individual coverage. Most
pay none or very little of the additional premium for family coverage.
The reason most county commissions do not contribute much to the premium for family coverage is because they simply do not have the fiscal resources to do so. Most county commissions struggle just to find money to give their employees annual compensation increases.
Health insurance is very important to everyone. Unfortunately, it is very expensive and becoming more so every year. County employees who obtain their health insurance because of the county’s participation in the LGHIP are very fortunate. They participate in a program that measures favorably with any other government-sponsored program in terms of benefits and premiums. It is unfortunate that they work for the level of government that, in most instances, is least financially able to absorb more of the cost.
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