Thanks for a job well done (12/18/04)

Government can be hard work.

If you doubt the truth of that statement, you should have been at the Jay County Courthouse on Monday.

From about 9 a.m. to nearly 4 p.m., the county commissioners slogged through a mind-numbing array of health insurance options for county employees.

They listened to sales pitches, they questioned numbers, and they tried to make sure they were comparing apples to apples when weighing one plan against another.

In other words, they shopped. And as anyone who has braved the Christmas crowds knows, shopping can be hard work.

By mid-afternoon, their eyes were almost crossed from the complexity of it all.

But they kept at it.

Throughout the process, the commissioners made it clear what they were looking for in next year’s health insurance coverage.

They wanted to save the county money. They wanted to provide benefits at the current level or as close as possible.

They wanted to make coverage for employee dependents and spouses more affordable. And they wanted to make sure that doctors used by county employees were part of the plan’s preferred provider organization.

All of this was done in public. Taxpayers, county employees, and competing insurance agents could be on hand for any or all of it.

In the end, it looks as if the commissioners’ shopping search was successful.

The plan for 2005 looks like a good deal for both the county and its employees.

For that, the commissioners — Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer, and Mike Leonhard — deserve a round of applause for a job well done. — J.R.

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