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Williamson board works deal on health insurance

BY JOHN D. HOMAN, THE SOUTHERN

Saturday, August 2, 2008 11:13 PM CDT

MARION - Williamson County employees must now pay a higher deductible for their health insurance coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Board Chair Brent Gentry said at a reconvened meeting Thursday that several meetings took place with an advisory board to discuss ways to combat a 17 percent premium increase by the insurer.

"The reason our premium increased so much is that we had 16 claims last year over $25,000 compared to only eight the year before," Gentry said. "Only 28 percent of our 250 employees met their deductible."

Jon Cavaness, the insurance agent for the county, said employees have three choices. They can pay a deductible of $1,000 as opposed to $500 last year. They can keep their $500 deductible and instead pay the county $25 a month, or they can drop the county's coverage and join their spouse's coverage. The county will continue to pay 100 percent of coverage beyond the deductible for the employee only.

"We worked hard to figure out how we could afford this," Gentry said. "And we all agreed that this is a plan we could live with because the employees wanted to stick with Blue Cross Blue Shield."

Gentry added health education is the key. It's the best way to save both the county and the employees money.

john.homan@thesouthern.com

351-5805