Orange County NC Website
<br />Attachment 2 <br />Page <br />• <br />HEALTH INSURANCE OVERVIEW <br />Health Plan Number Enrolled <br /> Total Active Retirees <br /> Employees <br />Open Access Plus In-Network Co- <br />Pay (HMO) 912 789 123 <br />Open Access Plus Co-Pay (PPO) <br /> 125 110 15 <br />The County currently pays 100% of the monthly premium for individual coverage for both the <br />HMO and PPO plans. The County also subsidizes the premium cost for the employee's <br />dependent coverage at 52%, based on the lower priced plan (which is the PPO plan). This <br />practice was established several years ago to provide affordable and thus, accessible health <br />insurance coverage for dependents (spouse, domestic partner, and/or children) to employees. <br />This is particularly attractive to lower salaried employees for whom dependent health insurance <br />coverage is a significant percentage of salary. Continuation of this level of subsidy maintains a <br />"family friendly" feature that is highly valued by the 40% of employees with dependent coverage. • <br />Employees with dependent coverage will see increases in their premiums this year. <br />For 2010, the national health care trend (percentage increase in claims costs that actuaries <br />expect to see in the next 12-month period) continues to increase at a rate of 10% over the <br />previous year; Because of lower claims experience over the last 18 months the Orange County <br />increase was trended to be closer to 7%. Based on this trending the FY 2010-11 budget <br />included a 7% increase for health insurance. The renewal negotiations with NCACC are <br />currently indicating that the rate for the same health insurance plans, with no plan design <br />changes, will result. in an overall increase of 6.5% effective January 2011. Staff is also <br />exploring self-insurance as an alternative to fully-insured funding for health insurance for <br />consideration for 2011 which may also reduce the amount of the increase as well as increase <br />cost containment measures. <br />Staff has developed several renewal options, which each enhance current employee benefits: <br />Renewal: The County pays the employee premium as in previous years, for both plans. Both <br />HMO and PPO plan designs are renewed at the same level as 2010 with these enhancements: <br />a) Coverage for hearing aids <br />b) Coverage for dependents up to age 26 regardless of student or marital status as <br />specified by health care reform legislation <br />Option 2: The benefits are the same as in the Renewal; however, the change to self-insured <br />funding reduces the overall cost. We are still discussing this option and present a sample • <br />range below. <br />