In an effort to save taxpayers money and help balance the precarious budget, Summit County officials are exploring ways to join together with the three special service districts to create a self-funded insurance program.
Snyderville Basin Recreation, Mountain Regional Water, Park City Fire District and Summit County employees and elected officials are currently all on different insurance plans.
County Manager Bob Jasper explained that if the four entities joined together to become self-insured, health insurance payments would be made to a county fund which would then cover insurance claims. In years with fewer employee insurance claims than expected, the money would go back into the fund to cover years with more claims.
“As a group, there would be savings in both fixed costs and claims costs,” said County Personnel Director Brian Bellamy. “We would drive down costs and in the end, save the tax payers money. Not an exorbitant amount, but in these tough times we know that every dollar counts.”
If the four districts come together and choose Select Health as their third party administrator, the overall savings could add up to as much as $294,000 dollars a year, Bellamy estimates.
So far, Basin Recreation, Mountain Regional and the county are all onboard, but Park City Fire says the plan would adversely affect them.
“The Fire District has run a self-funded insurance program with BeechStreet Network for five years and it has worked very well for us,” said Park City Fire Chief Paul Hewitt. “Our current insurance provides us with a lower cost per-employee-per-month average. And the other three can create an insurance program without us just fine, so it makes no sense for us to join them.”
Hewitt is suggesting the Fire District run its current insurance program in parallel with the county’s for three years, then compare the two to see which one provides better coverage and savings.
According to Bellamy, the county’s self-insured plan would save the fire district money in the long run and create a better insurance system for the other districts.
“The more people in the insurance pool, the more we can spread the risk around. Mix the healthy and young groups with everyone else,” said Jasper. “All four entities are part of the same system; by joining together, we create a better insurance program for everyone.”
Basin Recreation is being dropped by its current insurance carrier, Aetna, in October. A self-insured plan could save the district’s 19 employees almost $100 per month each on health insurance.
“We have been working on a county-wide insurance plan for over a year,” said Basin Recreation Director Rena Jordan. “We have tried to find the best plan for everyone that will save money and not decrease benefits. With this plan, we think everyone is getting better healthcare access and no one is losing benefits.”
Jordan added that if the county-wide plan does not go forward, Basin Recreation will ‘be scrambling’ to find insurance and the potential plans would be expensive.
Andy Armstrong, with Mountain Regional Water, said they are also hoping the county’s self-insured plan goes forward. Mountain Regional is currently on a state-offered insurance plan and could save upwards of $700 per-employee-per-month on the county’s proposed plan.
Savings to the districts would be greatest in years when actual claims are lower than projected claims, which Bellamy estimates to be five out of every 10 years. Actual claims could exceed projected claims three out of every 10 years. But even then, Bellamy said the districts would be saving money because the insurance rate would not fluctuate.
The Summit County Council will discuss health insurance at its next meeting on Sept. 29.