Agenda - 09-15-2009 - 6c - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 fund will be able to absorb this budgeted increase of $.23 per employee per month. The Manager recommends increasing the reimbursement amounts for basic restorative services. Life/Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance The County provides an employer-paid life insurance benefit at the employee's annual salary (rounded to the next thousand dollars) with a maximum benefit of $50,000. An employee also has the option to purchase additional coverage. Effective January 2008, MetLife became the carrier for athree-year contract ending December 2010. The Plan design for 2010 has no changes. The County pays 22.5 cents for every thousand dollars of coverage per month for life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. No changes are recommended for 2010. Flexible Compensation Plan The County provides a Section 125 Flexible Compensation Plan administered by Tucker Administrators. This Plan consists of a) tax sheltering of health and dental premiums and b) two Flexible Spending Accounts (a medical spending account and dependent/child care spending account). These accounts enable employees to increase their take home pay by eliminating income and Social Security taxes on contributions made to the Flexible Spending Account(s). Reductions in taxes are also realized by the County because the County does not pay Social Security taxes on the set-aside funds. Employees may contribute a maximum of $3,000 to the Medical Spending Account and up to $5,000 to the Dependent/Child Care Spending Account each plan year. The 2009 Plan incorporated a debit card feature which enables employees to pay for expenses at time of service with the funds from their accounts. Participation more than doubled in 2009. As employees learn more of the benefits of the flexible spending accounts, more employees are expected to participate in the next plan year, and contribute at higher amounts. No changes are recommended for 2010. Employee Assistance Program (EAP) Magellan Behavioral Health provides the County's EAP for County employees and their dependents. The EAP provides several services including confidential assessment and counseling services, 24/7 emergency services, and legal consultation. The EAP is a complement to services provided through the County Health Plan at no cost to employees, and saves employees a $30 co-pay for behavioral health services if they use the EAP instead of their health insurance. In 2009, the number of counseling sessions increased from three to five, and we substituted financial consultation services for the unused child care and senior care referral service benefit. These changes resulted in an increase of 7 cents per month per employee for a new cost of $1.61 per employee per month ($15,500/year). More employees have utilized this benefit compared to the previous years. No changes are recommended for 2010. Supplemental Benefits Colonial Insurance has been providing supplemental insurance benefits such as short term disability, cancer and hospitalization insurance to County employees through payroll deduction for almost twenty years. These programs can provide income to employees when they are unable to work and/or need additional funds for medical expenses. An increased number of employees have entered a leave without pay status since 2008. Between January and August 2009, 43 employees have been in a leave without pay status 5