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Jefferson County health plan works

The Jefferson County commissioners 12 years ago made a decision to do away with the county’s self-funded health insurance program, which was $10 million in debt and forcing the county into a dangerous financial area.

The county joined the Ohio Mid-Eastern Regional Education Service Agency insurance program, now called the Jefferson Health Plan. At the time OME-RESA was mainly funding health insurance programs for school districts.

County Commissioner Thomas Graham chaired the county’s health-insurance committee, comprised of county employees and citizens with a business background.

Today the county’s insurance program has a $3 million surplus, and the debt has been significantly reduced. Graham and the county’s insurance committee, which meets bimonthly,  have done a good job in nursing the health insurance back to health.

County employees pay an enviable amount for their health insurance compared to workers in the private sector.

The county’s insurance plan has more than 500 employees enrolled, insuring about 1,600 peoples. Employees on the full-service Aetna plan pay $64 a pay for single coverage and $85 a pay for family coverage. The scaled-down option of the Health Plan costs $43 a pay for single coverage and $59 a pay for family coverage.

The county’s departments pay $1,360 per month for each employee for insurance coverage. The cost includes $70 a month to retire the $10 million deficit.

The commissioners now face a decision on whether to let the $3 million surplus ride into next year and face unexpected catastrophic illness, which could quickly knock down the surplus, or impose a 4 percent increase in premiums to keep the surplus in place.

The county is in a good position at a time when health insurance costs are causing headaches for businesses across the country.

The national health care system is looking at increases, and insurance companies are fleeing the program.

The Jefferson Health Plan was established in 1985 to serve public schools in Ohio. It was founded as a partially self-insured health benefits program, and today, with annual revenues exceeding $300 million, provides health care and related employee benefit programs to nearly 300 public employer member organizations throughout the state. The Jefferson Health Plan covers about 50,000 plan participants.

One has to wonder why the Jefferson Health Plan has been so successful in keeping costs down while the national health care program is floundering.

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