County reverses course on insurance carrier : MATT BRUNING

Ross County employees won't be changing insurance carriers after all.

A week after passing a resolution of intent to go with a bid from the County Employees Benefits Consortium of Ohio, commissioners decided instead to stay with a proposal from their current insurance provider. A proposal from Medical Mutual of Ohio was sent to Auditor Steve Neal on Friday.

"It was a very favorable plan," Neal said.

"The proposal kind of came out of the clear blue sky," said Commissioner Frank Hirsch. "We were ready to sign on with CEBCO and had passed a resolution to that effect which we had to rescind. I guess they just wanted to keep our business."

A switch to CEBCO would have meant employees would see the amount they'd already paid in co-insurance reset on June 1.

"It allows us to do a lot of the things that we intended to do with the CEBCO plan, but, in addition, it's more protection for our employees in that they'll let us carry the deductibles and co-insurance over and all the employees will get credit for that," Neal said. "It really will be a seamless process."

What made the CEBCO proposal very attractive to commissioners was the fact that premiums would be locked in for the next 19 months. The only downside was that the contract would also have locked the county into CEBCO's plan for three years. Medical Mutual's proposal also locks rates in for 19 months, but after that, the county can shop around.

"Nineteen months down the road, we'll be ready to look at whatever might be out there available on the market and I think we'll be better off in the long run," Neal said.

The county still will use rates that were set last week to allow it to pay off the claims that come in under the current self-insurance policy. Neal estimates that will translate into a savings of about $800,000.

"The county employees win and the taxpayers of the county win because we're talking less money and county employees don't have to move to an entirely different plan," said Commissioner Jim Caldwell.

Both Neal and commissioners credited CEBCO's proposal with helping them get a better offer from Medical Mutual of Ohio.

"Even though they ultimately didn't get the business, they really were a benefit to us and we saved a ton of money," Neal said.

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