Commission Sets Votes on Health Insurance

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Shelby County Commissioners may not hear a whole lot new in the way of answers between now and a Thursday special meeting to settle the politically volatile issue of changes to health insurance coverage for county government employees.

But the votes probably weren't there Monday, Oct. 27, for the changes proposed by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell. And after a debate that dominated the Monday agenda, commissioners were able to agree to defer a vote on any part of the plan until the Thursday session.

'That's really on you all to do your homework between now and Thursday,' Luttrell said after a weekend of answering commissioners' questions one on one by phone and via email, hoping for a Monday decision. 'There's not any easy way out of this.'

The commission called the meeting for later this week to avoid pushing back the county's open enrollment period from its scheduled Nov. 3 start date to some point later in November.

The changes proposed include a 5 percent increase in premiums, dropping working spouses with 'affordable' health insurance offered by their employers and a smokers surcharge - all designed to fill an $11 million funding gap in the county's health insurance fund from increased claims and other costs.

'We at the county have met the financial challenge,' Luttrell told commissioners at the start of Monday's debate. 'We've had budget discipline.'

He also invoked a political metaphor used repeatedly in City Hall's ongoing discussion of the city's financial problems when he urged the commission not to delay its vote on the health insurance changes and 'kick the can down the road.'

'Try to resolve this today,' he added. 'If not today, let's certainly do the best we can.'

The county discussion differs from the city's debate. Only two municipal union leaders spoke at Monday's session. For months, city employees and retirees - mostly police and firefighters - have jammed City Hall committee rooms and showed up at Memphis City Council sessions twice a month even though the council approved city health insurance changes in June.

'You can cut it up 50 different ways and it still don't make sense,' Commissioner Terry Roland said in calling for a delayed vote on the county plan.

Commissioner Mark Billingsley, meanwhile, urged the commission to complete the 'hard decision' Monday.

'I don't believe anything on these pieces of paper is going to change in a week,' he countered.

The administration has some alternatives prepared that include a surcharge for spouses to keep them on the county's plan and out-of-pocket payments that would double along with plan deductibles.

'We do not recommend these options,' said deputy Chief Administrative Officer Kim Hackney. 'The obligation is to our employees. The obligation is not to the spouses.'

Hackney conceded the changes are difficult. But she said they are necessary and in line with health insurance changes other employers are making.

'Trying to keep them all under the same plan is good and we should be working toward that,'

Commissioner Reginald Milton countered, saying many families rely on choosing a single plan for everyone in the family based not just on the cost but on the simplicity of figuring out what happens when one of them needs to use the plan.

Commissioner Steve Basar faulted the county for not having enough options based on how many children someone has and whether they need coverage for the employee and a spouse only.

But he said the commission and administration have discussed the general issue of employee benefits and the financial liability over several years along with other employers in the public and private sectors.

And he said even with a commission decision this week, there will be more discussion in future fiscal years.

'There's employees and there's families,' Basar said of the choices in health insurance coverage. 'Going forward, this will come up again.'

A total of 12,000 people are enrolled in the county government's health insurance plans. Of that number, 5,700 are employees. The rest are spouses and dependents.

The county has 329 fewer Head Start employees with county government getting out of the Head Start business.

In a survey of employees, 663 had spouses who work who are offered coverage by those other employers. That coverage by another employer would mean 133 of the employees would probably choose to come off the county's insurance plan and go with the insurance offered by their spouse's employer. The combined effect is $3.8 million in savings.

'Whatever we do, that fund is going to have to balance,' said Chief Administrative Officer Harvey Kennedy, who said the premium increase of 5 percent is a 'very small increase.'

Trying to close the $11 million gap on the county property tax rate, he cautioned would be 'not insignificant.'