Author photo

By Drew Lawson
The Record-Times 

Weaving a PEB plan

Commissioners decide direction for medical insurance

 

Last updated 10/28/2022 at 9:40am



DAVENPORT—A journey of finding a medical insurance plan that commissioner Scott Hutsell referred to as a “merry-go-round” appears to be nearing its end. The commissioners motioned and approved a move to PEB for county medical insurance Wednesday morning, Oct. 26 after a week-long discussion that included consideration of remaining self-funded.

“This has been a whirlwind of looking at different things and strategizing,” commissioner Rob Coffman said Wednesday.

Last week, the commissioners indicated to the county’s unions that they would propose a plan involving PEB state insurance that would help cover dependents and decrease costs for covering employees’ spouses and families.

The PEB plan hit a snag when the commissioners learned that employees must be under the plan for one month to qualify for medical insurance through retirement. Two employees are elected officials planning to retire Dec. 31 and can’t continue working for a month to qualify for the plan because they didn’t file for re-election.


As a result, on Monday the commissioners told the Teamsters 690 bargaining unit, which represents the county’s public safety deputies in the Sheriff’s Office, they were considering a pivot back to the self-funded program instead of the originally proposed PEB plan.

This began to create tension between the commissioners and deputies, who had voted unanimously that they wanted to switch to the Teamsters’ medical plan, according to deputy Jon Evans.

Coffman said this would create a problem in a self-funded scenario, because nine deputies not joining that pool would make a self-funded program “not viable.”


At this time, deputies felt like the commissioners were prioritizing elected officials over the rest of the county employees, Evans said.

“I’m not sure why they would prioritize two employees over nine or more,” he said Tuesday morning.

Coffman said Wednesday he couldn’t find any law or statute preventing elected employees from being covered through retirement. However, an employee under the age of 65 does need to be under PEB for a month before retirement coverage.

Hutsell and Coffman were the present commissioners Wednesday morning to decide.

“Personally, I’m back at PEB,” Coffman said. “Going self-funded (would’ve been) a pretty big gamble.”

The figures the county will cover under a PEB plan still need to be bargained, but the commissioners are currently considering a blanket $1,100 in coverage for each employee, an increase from the current $820 figure.

Further discussion on premiums and costs to employees was pushed to Monday, Oct. 31 at 8 a.m., but the motion was made and approved for an official switch to PEB.

Author Bio

Drew Lawson, Editor

Author photo

Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 

Powered by ROAR Online Publication Software from Lions Light Corporation
© Copyright 2024

Rendered 03/22/2024 05:26