Allen County will need to budget somewhere between 12-15% more for its health insurance costs in the coming year.
Commissioners met with their insurance representative, Stephen Euston with Bukaty Companies of Leawood, on Tuesday morning to learn about possible changes to their plan.
Allen County has had a pretty good year so far, Euston said. Its “per employee” average costs dropped to five-year low of $749, and overall costs were also at a five-year low, projected to be about $903,365 when the annual plan ends in March.
In comparison, the county’s insurance costs reached a five-year high of $1,146,715 in the 2019-20 year.
But next year’s costs will be at least 12.83% higher, Euston told commissioners, because Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas did not have a good year as a whole.
That’s how the insurance business works, Euston said.
“There are years you have those big claims and you’re glad you have those protections from being part of a larger group,” he said. “Certainly this year, most of my clients are not having good years and are being pulled up by the others.”
Commissioners asked Euston to negotiate with BCBS to try to get a lower rate, and to explore options with another insurance provider. Euston did provide estimates from a UnitedHealthcare company, Meritain Health, which previously provided the county’s insurance until it switched to BCBS a couple of years ago.
Equipment
After months of discussion, Road and Bridge Director Mark Griffith finally got approval to buy a MowerMax boom mower for $239,649.
The county will use $104,000 in insurance proceeds from a boom mower that was destroyed by fire last year, as well as about $54,000 in proceeds from a surplus equipment auction. That means about $81,000 will come out of the county’s equipment fund.
A MowerMax is a piece of specialty equipment built by a Florida company as a compact, heavy-duty, wide-area mower to meet the needs of governments, which traditionally use tractor-mounted boom mowers to clear ditches along streets and roads.
The Kansas Department of Transportation has three of the machines, and Sedgwick County has two. That’s the extent of the company’s foray into Kansas so far.
The county approved a mower with a 26-foot boom arm after considering one with a shorter arm. It will replace at least two other mowers.
The mower is expected to arrive in about six months.
IN OTHER news, commissioners:
• Heard a report from Mitch Garner, Public Works director, that new radios were being installed in his department’s vehicles, with about 52 radios in cars, trucks, mowers and other equipment as well as about 24 handheld radios. The radios work with a new communications tower and will improve radio traffic. So far, the reception appears clear with no static.
