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Healthcare and he is alarmed that Orange County is going to be working with them. He said <br /> that hospital executives have ranked UHC the worst insurance company in the United States. <br /> He stated several other comments that he researched that had negative feedback for UHC. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he is comfortable with Community Home Trust and he <br /> would like to do something similar to the firefighters. <br /> Mark Browder said that Guilford County is self-funded with UHC, so they are not fully <br /> insured. The City of Greensboro is also. Moore County is a UHC customer and they have had <br /> clients fully insured with UHC and have had no issues. He said that with his experience in the <br /> public sector, he has not seen these problems. If the County wishes to do something else, <br /> there are other options, but it would cost more. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger asked why most employees prefer HMO's and Diane <br /> Shepherd said that it pays 100% and employees only have to pay copays. Otherwise, it is <br /> virtually identical to the PPO. <br /> Commissioner Hemminger said that she could not approve Option 2 for families and <br /> dependents because it is just too much of an increase in premiums. <br /> Frank Clifton said that if the Board wants to forego United Healthcare, he needs to <br /> know tonight so that they can rework the costs. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to see an option with another insurance <br /> company. <br /> Commissioner McKee asked if this could be reviewed in a year and changed if it was <br /> not suitable. It was answered yes. <br /> Commissioner McKee said that he understands Commissioner Jacobs' concerns, but <br /> he is partially comfortable with moving ahead with the options as presented, with the <br /> understanding that it can be reevaluated in a year. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like staff to look into the comments and <br /> contact UHC and report back. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she wants to hold to the dates as already structured, <br /> because it is very complicated and it will be more complicated to get the employees to <br /> understand all of the changes. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Option 3 and asked if there was a direct <br /> relationship between the amount of increase and the size of the deductibles. It was answered <br /> yes. He said that one option would be to look at making some adjustments to the deductibles <br /> so that there is not such a severe impact on employees. <br /> Staff will bring another option related to this. <br /> Vision Coveraqe: <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she supports a voluntary vision program for <br /> employees and the Board of County Commissioners agreed. <br /> Retiree Insurance Coveraqe: <br /> Frank Clifton said that this is an update only on post retirement benefits. He made <br /> reference to the handout on Moore County. With Moore County, if an employee had at least <br /> 15 years of service before retiring, they can participate in the insurance program, but with full <br /> cost. In Orange County, after 10 years of service, the County pays 100%. After 20 years of <br /> creditable service, with the last 15 years in Moore County, it pays 50%. After 30 years of <br /> creditable service with the last 15 years in Moore County, it pays 75%. <br /> This post-employment benefit is growing in Orange County between $4-5 million every <br /> year. It is now $16 million. This equates to about 3 cents on the tax rate annually. There are <br />