July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Insurance confusion reigns (11/23/04)
Commissioners make decision, change minds
The sometimes-baffling world of health insurance got a little more so Monday for Jay County Commissioners.
But this time, they had no one to blame but themselves.
The commissioners, who have been frustrated often as they have tried to get the best deal for taxpayers and county employees, created some confusion for themselves with a decision that they overturned in less than 30 minutes Monday afternoon.
The result? Three different agents — two from Portland and one from Indianapolis — will likely be obtaining a quote from Anthem to provide health insurance coverage for Jay County employees.
The commissioners, who were hoping to switch their health insurance renewal date to Jan. 1 from Feb. 1, said Monday they may renew with UnitedHealthcare but consider dropping the company if Anthem offers a better deal.
John Gause, president of an Indianapolis employee benefits firm and Kevin Inman of Inman Insurance each talked to the commissioners Monday afternoon. They, along with Steve Stockton, who serves as local agent for the county’s current coverage underwritten by UnitedHealthcare, are working to obtain quotes from Anthem.
Monday morning, in discussions with Stockton and Edward Culpepper Cooper, their agent-of-record, Commissioners Mike Leonhard, Milo Miller Jr. and Gary Theurer learned that keeping costs in line for next year would mean a decrease in benefits and an increase in deductibles and out-of-pocket costs under a renewal quote from underwriter UnitedHealthcare.
Keeping the same benefits would mean a premium increase of 18.2 percent — resulting in a doubling of the amount deducted every two weeks from the paychecks of county employees to cover their share of the premium. Two other options that had no or smaller increases were recommended by the commissioners’ agent-of-record, but those options feature high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
The county will pay $446 per month per employee on the plan next year toward the cost of health insurance coverage. That amount is equal to about $3 in additional benefits for each hour worked, Miller said Monday.
John Gause, president of APEX Benefits Group, was first up Monday afternoon. Gause told the commissioners he and his company would use their considerable clout with Anthem to get the best deal possible.
He also said he would give better service to the commissioners than they were currently receiving.
Referring to an earlier proposed 24 percent increase in a renewal quote, Gause said “before I walked in here with a 24 percent increase ... I’d go out to the market (and shop around).”
Gause said that Anthem would likely give a better quote if the company was dealing with just one agent, so he asked the commissioners for a letter granting exclusive rights to represent the county with Anthem.
Leonhard made a motion to that effect, with Theurer giving a somewhat-reluctant second. Miller made it unanimous.
Inman, who arrived at the commissioners’ meeting about 10 minutes before Gause left, was next up. Inman, who had talked to Miller last week before traveling to Indianapolis for a meeting with Anthem officials, said he expected to receive a quote from the company within two weeks.
“I live in this county, and I want to do what’s right,” Inman said. “I’m willing to work for almost (no commission).”
When the commissioners realized they’d just granted exclusive rights to Gause that had already been broken, they called his company, explained the situation, and asked for Gause’s cell phone number. The secretary said that number could not be located, but less than two minutes later Gause walked back through the commissioners’ door. He said he was sitting in his car outside the courthouse and received a call from an employee of his company.
“If you want to go ahead a get a quote, that’s fine. But it won’t be exclusive,” Miller told Gause. Miller said he didn’t believe he had voted previously to grant that exclusivity to Gause.
The commissioners then approved rescinding their previous decision.
Gause asked the commissioners to limit the Anthem quotes to himself and Inman, saying that Stockton and Cooper knew the proposed renewal rates from UnitedHealthcare and should have been ready with quotes from other companies.
But the commissioners refused to take that action, saying Stockton had already gotten information to obtain that quote.
Also Monday, while meeting as the county drainage board, the commissioners approved drainage plans for a Lions Club headquarters planned for construction on the north side of Portland.
The 6,300-square foot building will be built on donated land on county road 100 north about a quarter-mile east of U.S. 27. Storm water run-off will be held back by an earthen berm on the east side of the property. The water will then be directed into a drainage tile, eventually emptying into the old “Hollow Block” pond east of Doane Pet Care.
Representing the Lions Club was board member Bill Cook and architect Keith Pugh of Farmland.
In other business Monday the commissioners:
•Received an update on attempts to win grant funding for the rehabilitation of the Weiler Building in downtown Portland from Jay County community developer Wayne Bailey. Bailey is working on behalf of John Jay Center for Learning, the owner of the building. JJCL hopes to renovate the former department store at Main and Meridian streets into its permanent home.
Bailey told the commissioners that at the suggestion of Greg Beumer, Region 8 director for the Indiana Department of Commerce, the focus has been shifted to bringing the build into compliance with health and safety codes. The previous concentration had been on the building’s historical aspect.
•Approved a clarification in when county employees will be off work for the upcoming New Year’s holiday. New Year’s Day falls on Saturday in 2005. The commissioners agreed Monday that a day off will be given, and the courthouse will be closed on Monday, Jan. 3. The courthouse will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving.
•Learned from Bob Quadrozzi, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, that Indianapolis company Omnicity that plans to offer high-speed wireless Internet access in the county will hold a marketing event Tuesday, Nov. 30. The event is tentatively scheduled to held at the Jay County Courthouse.
The county is backing the project with a line-of-credit from economic development income tax funds of up to $380,000.[[In-content Ad]]
But this time, they had no one to blame but themselves.
The commissioners, who have been frustrated often as they have tried to get the best deal for taxpayers and county employees, created some confusion for themselves with a decision that they overturned in less than 30 minutes Monday afternoon.
The result? Three different agents — two from Portland and one from Indianapolis — will likely be obtaining a quote from Anthem to provide health insurance coverage for Jay County employees.
The commissioners, who were hoping to switch their health insurance renewal date to Jan. 1 from Feb. 1, said Monday they may renew with UnitedHealthcare but consider dropping the company if Anthem offers a better deal.
John Gause, president of an Indianapolis employee benefits firm and Kevin Inman of Inman Insurance each talked to the commissioners Monday afternoon. They, along with Steve Stockton, who serves as local agent for the county’s current coverage underwritten by UnitedHealthcare, are working to obtain quotes from Anthem.
Monday morning, in discussions with Stockton and Edward Culpepper Cooper, their agent-of-record, Commissioners Mike Leonhard, Milo Miller Jr. and Gary Theurer learned that keeping costs in line for next year would mean a decrease in benefits and an increase in deductibles and out-of-pocket costs under a renewal quote from underwriter UnitedHealthcare.
Keeping the same benefits would mean a premium increase of 18.2 percent — resulting in a doubling of the amount deducted every two weeks from the paychecks of county employees to cover their share of the premium. Two other options that had no or smaller increases were recommended by the commissioners’ agent-of-record, but those options feature high deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
The county will pay $446 per month per employee on the plan next year toward the cost of health insurance coverage. That amount is equal to about $3 in additional benefits for each hour worked, Miller said Monday.
John Gause, president of APEX Benefits Group, was first up Monday afternoon. Gause told the commissioners he and his company would use their considerable clout with Anthem to get the best deal possible.
He also said he would give better service to the commissioners than they were currently receiving.
Referring to an earlier proposed 24 percent increase in a renewal quote, Gause said “before I walked in here with a 24 percent increase ... I’d go out to the market (and shop around).”
Gause said that Anthem would likely give a better quote if the company was dealing with just one agent, so he asked the commissioners for a letter granting exclusive rights to represent the county with Anthem.
Leonhard made a motion to that effect, with Theurer giving a somewhat-reluctant second. Miller made it unanimous.
Inman, who arrived at the commissioners’ meeting about 10 minutes before Gause left, was next up. Inman, who had talked to Miller last week before traveling to Indianapolis for a meeting with Anthem officials, said he expected to receive a quote from the company within two weeks.
“I live in this county, and I want to do what’s right,” Inman said. “I’m willing to work for almost (no commission).”
When the commissioners realized they’d just granted exclusive rights to Gause that had already been broken, they called his company, explained the situation, and asked for Gause’s cell phone number. The secretary said that number could not be located, but less than two minutes later Gause walked back through the commissioners’ door. He said he was sitting in his car outside the courthouse and received a call from an employee of his company.
“If you want to go ahead a get a quote, that’s fine. But it won’t be exclusive,” Miller told Gause. Miller said he didn’t believe he had voted previously to grant that exclusivity to Gause.
The commissioners then approved rescinding their previous decision.
Gause asked the commissioners to limit the Anthem quotes to himself and Inman, saying that Stockton and Cooper knew the proposed renewal rates from UnitedHealthcare and should have been ready with quotes from other companies.
But the commissioners refused to take that action, saying Stockton had already gotten information to obtain that quote.
Also Monday, while meeting as the county drainage board, the commissioners approved drainage plans for a Lions Club headquarters planned for construction on the north side of Portland.
The 6,300-square foot building will be built on donated land on county road 100 north about a quarter-mile east of U.S. 27. Storm water run-off will be held back by an earthen berm on the east side of the property. The water will then be directed into a drainage tile, eventually emptying into the old “Hollow Block” pond east of Doane Pet Care.
Representing the Lions Club was board member Bill Cook and architect Keith Pugh of Farmland.
In other business Monday the commissioners:
•Received an update on attempts to win grant funding for the rehabilitation of the Weiler Building in downtown Portland from Jay County community developer Wayne Bailey. Bailey is working on behalf of John Jay Center for Learning, the owner of the building. JJCL hopes to renovate the former department store at Main and Meridian streets into its permanent home.
Bailey told the commissioners that at the suggestion of Greg Beumer, Region 8 director for the Indiana Department of Commerce, the focus has been shifted to bringing the build into compliance with health and safety codes. The previous concentration had been on the building’s historical aspect.
•Approved a clarification in when county employees will be off work for the upcoming New Year’s holiday. New Year’s Day falls on Saturday in 2005. The commissioners agreed Monday that a day off will be given, and the courthouse will be closed on Monday, Jan. 3. The courthouse will be closed Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving.
•Learned from Bob Quadrozzi, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, that Indianapolis company Omnicity that plans to offer high-speed wireless Internet access in the county will hold a marketing event Tuesday, Nov. 30. The event is tentatively scheduled to held at the Jay County Courthouse.
The county is backing the project with a line-of-credit from economic development income tax funds of up to $380,000.[[In-content Ad]]
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