Commissioners look for health insurance fix

By Amy Lavalley Post-Tribune correspondent

John Evans, R-North

Updated:

VALPARAISO - The Porter County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to provide $2 million in income tax funds to help cover the cost of health insurance, but not before telling the County Council they will have to come up with additional funds to cover the rest of the shortfall.

'This is not going to cover the rest of the year,' said Commission President John Evans, R-North, adding the council 'can't keep kicking the can down the road. They've got to find the money. We're not the fiscal body.'

Evans said 30 people are responsible for more than 50 percent of the county plan's claims, which is the risk the county takes for being self-insured.

Commissioners voted earlier this month to spend $5 million in interest money from the sale of the county hospital to cover the health insurance.

The council last week voted to spend $972,000 in hospital interest money that wasn't needed by E-911 to get insurance through the next few weeks, but didn't want to pull the full amount out of the interest, instead asking commissioners to cover it out of county economic development interest, or CEDIT, funds.

Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, said commissioners are looking at ways to cut insurance costs. Commissioners have hired a consultant, Steve Brady of the Heritage Advisory Group, to examine expenses in a contract not to exceed $5,000.

Commissioners also gave the council $2 million in CEDIT toward this year's insurance, Evans said.

Reached later, Council Vice President Karen Conover, R-3rd District, said that, conservatively, $500,000 is needed for insurance the rest of the year, and the only two pots of money with unencumbered funds available are hospital interest and CEDIT.

'I think there's been a lot of headway in the short term,' she said, adding that though she has not discussed it with other members of the council, she would rather allocate money for the balance of health care costs as it's needed through the rest of the year. 'If we have to deal with it every month, then we do.'