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By Jay King
HOMETOWN NEWS
Spartanburg County Council is set to take a closer look at its insurance options during a budget work session this week, and among those options the front-runner appears to be self-funding the county’s health insurance.
According to Assistant Administrator Jim Hipp, the administration has been working on refining plans and figures stemming from the council’s May meeting to present at another budget workshop Wednesday.
The challenge facing the county as it grapples with continued revenue shortfalls is trying to control health insurance costs. The plan the administration presented to council earlier in the month would have meant significant premium increases for both the county’s share and the employee’s share, and council members expressed interest in looking into other plans that would either limit or eliminate those proposed increases.
The meeting this week will look at the county going under the state plan or at self-funding its own insurance coverage. With 1,260 employees enrolled in health coverage costing the county $11.8 million in premiums last year and claims of $10.2 million, one of the options gaining support among council members is self-funding.
Councilman David Britt said he favors the option because it is similar to what his company, Tindall, does with its employee health insurance. He said with the number of employees the county has enrolled, the county is in a good position to look at the self-funding option.
For the rest of the story, read this week’s Inman Times.
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