00:00:00.000 All
00:00:04.560 right, I'm gonna call the meeting to
00:00:05.600 order. If I could ask everybody to
00:00:06.879 please stand for the pledge of
00:00:07.839 >> allegiance
00:00:12.960 to the flag of the United States of
00:00:15.519 America and to the republic for which it
00:00:18.400 stands. One nation,
00:00:21.760 indivisible, with liberty and justice
00:00:24.240 for all.
00:00:29.119 All right, Mary, if I could ask you for
00:00:30.560 the reading of the call, please.
00:00:32.320 >> Dear supervisor, please be advised that
00:00:34.160 the Triple County Board of Supervisors
00:00:35.760 will have a special health insurance
00:00:37.280 meeting on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
00:00:40.000 at 5:30 p.m. in the county boardroom at
00:00:42.719 the government center in White House,
00:00:44.079 Wisconsin. Sincerely, Mary Martin,
00:00:46.399 County Clerk.
00:00:48.000 >> All right, Mary, if you could please do
00:00:49.200 the roll call.
00:00:51.520 >> Bridget Turner,
00:00:52.800 >> here.
00:00:53.440 >> Andy Parish,
00:00:54.239 >> here.
00:00:54.879 >> Riker Todd,
00:00:55.760 >> here. Lorie Severson
00:00:57.360 >> here.
00:00:57.840 >> Andy Todd
00:00:58.640 >> here.
00:00:59.280 >> Richard Anderson
00:01:00.239 >> here.
00:01:00.640 >> Scott Leonard
00:01:01.359 >> here.
00:01:01.840 >> Paul Severson
00:01:02.879 >> here.
00:01:03.359 >> Kevin Whan
00:01:04.320 >> here.
00:01:04.879 >> John Austin
00:01:05.600 >> here.
00:01:06.320 >> Don Tro
00:01:07.200 >> here.
00:01:07.600 >> Robert Becker
00:01:09.280 >> here.
00:01:10.080 >> Renee [snorts] Lion
00:01:10.960 >> here.
00:01:11.600 >> John Scout
00:01:12.640 >> here.
00:01:13.200 >> David Larson
00:01:14.000 >> here.
00:01:14.400 >> Kristen Husby
00:01:15.200 >> here.
00:01:15.600 >> Ron Johnson
00:01:16.400 >> here.
00:01:17.360 >> All 17 present.
00:01:19.119 >> All right. All 17 present. Uh, do I have
00:01:21.200 a motion on the floor for um adoption of
00:01:24.080 the agenda of a five item agenda?
00:01:27.200 >> We have um Supervisor Johnson and we
00:01:29.920 have Supervisor Turner. Um, any
00:01:32.880 discussion?
00:01:35.119 >> All right. All those in favor adopting
00:01:36.720 agenda say I.
00:01:38.079 >> I.
00:01:38.560 >> I. [clears throat] Opposed?
00:01:41.200 >> Carried. [snorts] All right. We're going
00:01:42.960 to go to number four. I want to start
00:01:44.479 with asking everybody if they want to
00:01:46.240 wave the rule of a three
00:01:49.600 uh speaking three different times for a
00:01:51.680 limit. Um if that's something you want
00:01:53.920 to wave for this particular um
00:01:57.439 >> discussion when it comes to the
00:01:58.640 healthcare.
00:01:59.840 >> Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion that we
00:02:01.600 wave the three minute the three time
00:02:04.479 discussion.
00:02:05.200 >> I'll second that motion.
00:02:06.399 >> For one, we got nine for two.
00:02:08.640 >> All right. Um any discussion on that?
00:02:11.599 All those in favor signify by saying I.
00:02:14.400 >> I.
00:02:14.720 >> I.
00:02:15.599 >> Opposed. Oh, thanks. Opposed.
00:02:17.680 >> We got to wait for Audi.
00:02:19.920 >> Carried. All right. Let's go to um
00:02:22.239 number four. Presentation with
00:02:23.920 discussion possible action regarding ETF
00:02:26.080 health insurance options 2027.
00:02:29.599 And who are we going to have?
00:02:30.800 >> If I can start.
00:02:31.680 >> Yeah, that'd be great.
00:02:32.480 >> Okay. Thank you. Um so, thanks to
00:02:34.800 everyone for u joining us this evening.
00:02:37.519 and thankful to chair Todd and for all
00:02:40.239 of you uh for being here for an extra
00:02:42.400 meeting. Um this has been a topic that
00:02:45.280 has come up to exec finance as well as
00:02:48.640 personnel bargaining. We thought it was
00:02:50.640 really important that the entire board
00:02:52.800 weighs in on such an important decision
00:02:54.959 that drives our budget for 2027. And so
00:02:58.720 we called this meeting so that everybody
00:03:00.640 could weigh in on this at this time. uh
00:03:03.599 because we do have to have this
00:03:05.760 information in order to guide us in
00:03:08.159 building that budget uh that we're right
00:03:10.800 in the process of right now as well as
00:03:13.920 open enrollment for health insurance. Uh
00:03:16.400 employees need to make their decisions
00:03:18.000 coming up very soon. So we really need
00:03:20.959 um some direction from all of you to
00:03:23.519 make sure that uh we're building this
00:03:26.000 budget in the proper way. Um I just want
00:03:28.640 to give a little bit of background. We
00:03:30.319 have had um like I said some committee
00:03:33.519 work on that. We did have small group
00:03:35.680 work where we worked with the uh healthc
00:03:38.080 care center Jerry Deetsz and Lori
00:03:40.080 Glonnard are both here and they gave a
00:03:42.080 lot of input and good feedback to the
00:03:44.799 process as well as well as chair Todd
00:03:47.040 and um supervisor um Anderson. So I just
00:03:51.200 want to give you a little bit of
00:03:52.239 background. These have been ongoing
00:03:54.400 conversations that we've been trying to
00:03:56.319 figure out and try to bring bring
00:03:58.159 forward to you. of course want to
00:04:00.640 acknowledge um the leadership from Pam
00:04:03.120 Hansen as our finance ma ma man
00:04:04.980 [clears throat] manager as well as uh
00:04:06.319 Shelley Reman with our our human
00:04:08.319 resource generalist. They've been great
00:04:09.920 to work with and we've been as we've
00:04:11.599 been uh putting all of this together. So
00:04:14.159 uh just want to recognize them. So I I
00:04:17.120 did put together a memo for you that
00:04:19.120 kind of laid everything out. I just want
00:04:20.720 to give a little bit of background to
00:04:22.320 you and I'll read that just so that the
00:04:24.400 public can hear it as well and then
00:04:26.160 we'll move into some descriptions from
00:04:28.479 Shellyley and Pam and so we can work
00:04:30.400 through this. Um so uh hopefully we're
00:04:33.199 laying this out for everyone to
00:04:34.720 understand. So recommendation at a
00:04:37.280 glance again in all of our work and
00:04:39.520 conversation, you're going to hear about
00:04:41.919 all of the discussion and things that
00:04:43.759 went into this, but at a recommendation
00:04:46.320 at that level where we were talking, uh,
00:04:49.040 we're making the recommendation to
00:04:50.639 approve the low deductible health plan
00:04:52.639 for 2027 with an 85% county
00:04:56.080 contribution. to fund the project.
00:04:58.800 There's an additional 680,276
00:05:02.000 county cost with county that would need
00:05:04.479 to be provided with county surplus. Um
00:05:07.360 because of that significant increase,
00:05:10.080 the 23% increase in health insurance
00:05:12.479 costs, that's what we're looking at
00:05:13.840 right now. Um our levy limits as well as
00:05:17.280 our levy revenues are not going to cover
00:05:19.759 that type of increase. So that's where
00:05:21.520 we're saying it's going to have to come
00:05:23.280 from somewhere. Um, we would set the
00:05:25.440 employer funded FSA contribution at $500
00:05:28.720 for both single and family coverage.
00:05:30.639 Right now it's 500 and a,000 and then
00:05:33.520 the county covers both. The county would
00:05:36.080 be covering only 500 for each and begin
00:05:39.600 evaluating alternatives for 2028. We
00:05:42.320 would start right away this fall in
00:05:44.880 bringing in um insurance groups to talk
00:05:47.680 about other options and self-funding and
00:05:50.000 things uh the possibilities. So, but we
00:05:52.720 want you to consider the proposed uh
00:05:54.720 $200 monthly out of uh out opt out
00:05:58.400 payment. Uh that's with some extra
00:06:00.960 information that's being brought as well
00:06:03.360 uh to give another option that uh
00:06:05.919 current nonparticipation and eligibility
00:06:08.400 are qualified and its fiscal impa impact
00:06:12.000 is confirmed. So, that is in another
00:06:14.319 form that we're going to talk about is
00:06:16.080 looking at how we might um compensate
00:06:19.360 individuals that are choosing not to
00:06:21.120 take the health insurance here and how
00:06:23.039 that might save the county some money in
00:06:25.120 the future. So, just as background,
00:06:27.199 health insurance costs through the
00:06:28.560 Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust
00:06:30.160 Funds, ETF, increased approximately 11%
00:06:33.039 for 2026. That's what we were looking at
00:06:35.440 last year. Now, for 2027,
00:06:38.319 uh the county is facing an additional
00:06:40.080 increase of 23%. This second consecutive
00:06:43.360 significant increase creates sub
00:06:45.120 substantial pressure on both the county
00:06:47.039 budget and employees. Maintaining the
00:06:49.600 county's historical 88% contribution
00:06:51.919 toward the low deductible plan would
00:06:53.840 result in a total annual premium
00:06:55.919 increase of more than 1 million. Of that
00:06:58.720 increase, approximately $831,587
00:07:02.800 would be the county's responsibility.
00:07:05.039 Because of this impact, the county
00:07:06.720 administrator, finance manager, HR
00:07:08.639 generalist have reviewed options
00:07:10.800 intended to balance affordability,
00:07:12.960 benefit continuity, and keep responsible
00:07:15.280 use of county levy dollars. So, just to
00:07:19.919 understand again, we've got a history of
00:07:21.840 this wonderful health insurance. And I
00:07:24.160 think again we went through the process
00:07:26.080 of all of you doing prioritization and
00:07:29.039 looking at where you want to make an
00:07:30.800 impact for the county and subst you know
00:07:34.400 by and far that it was decided that we
00:07:36.880 want to put money into wages and
00:07:38.560 benefits because we want to uh
00:07:40.880 prioritize that for the county and
00:07:43.120 appreciate our employees here. the
00:07:45.599 problem becomes is that the cost has
00:07:48.400 just become so high and so we've got to
00:07:51.520 look at how we balance that a little bit
00:07:53.440 better uh rather than the county bearing
00:07:56.879 all or most of the that increase how
00:07:59.759 we're going to um look at uh options for
00:08:03.680 future. So I'm going to ask Shelley to
00:08:05.759 come up and talk about plan uh options
00:08:08.720 that are that were considered and uh
00:08:11.039 bring that forward to you.
00:08:21.280 So, I will start by letting you know
00:08:24.400 what is in the packets that I handed out
00:08:27.280 there. So, [clears throat] you will find
00:08:30.560 um some colored sheets in there and
00:08:33.279 those are essentially the options uh for
00:08:36.320 you to consider. Um, I've placed in
00:08:39.120 there what our current 2026
00:08:41.519 lowdeductible health plan um, options
00:08:45.519 are. What we currently do, which is the
00:08:47.600 88% contribution uh, to courts west,
00:08:51.200 which is the lowest cost plan. Two-sided
00:08:53.839 document. So, one side lists the monthly
00:08:56.240 cost with dental and the other without
00:08:58.480 dental.
00:09:00.000 um then you will find in 2027 if we
00:09:05.920 stuck with that same low deductible plan
00:09:08.720 that we're in now and we as a county
00:09:12.080 contributed 88% towards uh the lowest
00:09:15.279 cost plan courts west you could see what
00:09:17.839 that monthly cost would be and it is
00:09:20.080 separated out uh with the total premium
00:09:22.240 cost for each of the health plans uh the
00:09:25.120 employee contribution monthly as well as
00:09:27.600 what the employer Trumbolo county would
00:09:29.519 be paying and that would be at that 88%
00:09:32.000 rate if we just continued status quo of
00:09:35.200 what we currently do now in 2026.
00:09:38.399 Then you will find a handout um that
00:09:41.440 shows if Trumpo County went down to
00:09:43.760 paying 85%
00:09:45.839 um of the uh premium of the courts west
00:09:49.279 lowest cost plan
00:09:52.959 and then 83%
00:09:55.760 if we stayed uh in the low deductible
00:09:58.080 health plan that we're in now and Trumpo
00:10:00.000 County contributed 83%.
00:10:04.240 And then you will find a handout uh that
00:10:07.120 goes as low as 80% if Tolo County were
00:10:09.920 to contribute 80% towards uh the Courts
00:10:14.000 West
00:10:15.600 plan.
00:10:18.399 Then the last one of those colored
00:10:22.320 sheets in there does look at the high
00:10:24.959 deductible health plan um which we were
00:10:28.480 asked to look at as a possible option to
00:10:31.440 change to. So, right now we're in the
00:10:34.560 low deductible health plan, but ETF does
00:10:37.360 offer a high deductible option. Uh, we
00:10:39.839 have to choose one plan designed with
00:10:41.360 ETF. We're not allowed to be on multiple
00:10:43.600 plan designs. So, that sheet uh would be
00:10:47.200 what if we switch to that high
00:10:48.480 deductible health plan? What would that
00:10:50.480 do to the total premium costs and cost
00:10:54.079 uh split between the employer and
00:10:55.839 employees? So, that looks at doing 88%
00:10:59.519 contribution.
00:11:01.200 Trumpo County would do the same 88% like
00:11:03.760 we do now in the low deductible plan.
00:11:06.079 But what if we did that with the high
00:11:07.360 deductible plan?
00:11:08.240 >> Mr. Chair, am I able to ask questions?
00:11:11.680 Clarifying.
00:11:12.880 >> Yeah, sure.
00:11:13.440 >> Should we?
00:11:14.320 >> Uh, so you you said we can't offer We
00:11:17.839 can only offer one plan. Is that an ETF
00:11:20.800 thing or is that a state thing or?
00:11:24.720 >> Yeah.
00:11:25.600 >> Yeah, good question. So ETF um that is a
00:11:28.720 rule of ETF. They only allow an employer
00:11:31.120 to choose one plan design. Now, you see
00:11:33.920 on these handouts, there's multiple
00:11:36.000 different health plans an employee can
00:11:38.079 choose from, but the plan design
00:11:41.600 must just be one. So, currently we're in
00:11:44.320 what what they call the P4, which is the
00:11:46.800 low deductible health plan. Um, and then
00:11:50.000 the high deductible is what's called P
00:11:52.079 07.
00:11:53.680 That's the other option that we were
00:11:55.360 considering. Um, but yep, one plan
00:11:58.079 design that is an ETF role.
00:12:02.720 >> I think that's a good dis distinction to
00:12:05.200 think about because in talking with
00:12:08.560 other um counties they have gone to um
00:12:14.079 maybe self-unding and things and they
00:12:16.079 can offer multiple different choices for
00:12:18.959 people. So someone can be on a high
00:12:20.800 deductible plan and someone can be on
00:12:22.480 the low deductible. So that's why again
00:12:25.440 researching might give us the ability
00:12:27.600 then to um have better options for
00:12:30.480 people that might might want to choose
00:12:32.560 different.
00:12:34.480 And then uh additionally in your
00:12:36.480 packets, I did uh place in there uh some
00:12:39.600 ETF brochures that show the differences
00:12:42.240 between the lowdeductible health plan uh
00:12:44.880 the schedule of benefits is what that is
00:12:46.880 called and the high deductible health
00:12:49.120 plan because there are some significant
00:12:51.440 differences between how those two plans
00:12:54.079 are designed.
00:12:58.160 Chair,
00:12:59.440 >> could could you just give us some
00:13:02.240 highlights as to
00:13:06.959 >> Sure. Yep. So, the low deductible plan
00:13:09.680 um that the county has historically been
00:13:11.839 on and we are on now um has if you take
00:13:14.560 a single plan, your deductible is $500
00:13:17.120 annually. If you take a family plan,
00:13:18.880 your deductible is a th00and. Uh and
00:13:21.839 then after you've met your deductible,
00:13:24.800 you do not have any co insurance.
00:13:26.800 Meaning this insurance covers at 100%.
00:13:29.839 So you go to a specialty doctor, you go
00:13:32.959 have an MRI, as long as you've met your
00:13:35.040 deductible and you're going in network
00:13:36.560 to the plan that you've chose, your
00:13:38.399 insurance is paying 100%. Uh you're not
00:13:41.360 going to see co-pays either with this
00:13:43.120 plan with the except exception of $60 if
00:13:47.360 you use the ER. Urgent care, there is
00:13:50.079 none. Um, another good feature about
00:13:52.880 this current plan is uh pharmacy
00:13:55.680 coverage begins right away. You do not
00:13:58.399 have to meet your health insurance
00:14:00.160 deductible in order for your pharmacy
00:14:02.399 benefit to start paying for your
00:14:04.800 pharmacy your medications. Um, so then
00:14:08.720 thinking about the high deductible plan.
00:14:11.040 Uh, so
00:14:13.199 let me get my sheet out. So, I'm telling
00:14:16.560 you,
00:14:19.279 so that high deductible health plan,
00:14:24.720 you're going to have not only
00:14:28.959 um a higher deductible to meet out of
00:14:31.600 pocket, but you are also going to have
00:14:33.760 co-pays, you are going to have co-
00:14:35.440 insurance as well. Uh so significantly
00:14:38.959 more out of pocket for the employee in
00:14:41.040 that case. Um, and you are also not
00:14:47.360 going to have pharmacy coverage right
00:14:49.199 away for your prescription drugs. So,
00:14:52.399 um, the way they do it, the high
00:14:54.240 deductible health plan is you have to
00:14:56.240 meet the total deductible before your
00:15:00.240 pharmacy benefit will start kicking in.
00:15:03.040 So, they do a health and pharmacy
00:15:04.480 combined. So um the individual is going
00:15:08.639 to be uh 2,000 and the family is going
00:15:12.720 to be 4,000 for that deductible in that
00:15:15.199 high deductible health plan. Then you
00:15:17.600 also have to consider what is your
00:15:19.199 annual out-ofpocket limit spend because
00:15:22.959 you will have co- insurance and you're
00:15:24.639 going to have co-pays under this plan.
00:15:26.399 So for an individual your out-of- pocket
00:15:28.480 limit is 3,500 and then family is$7,000.
00:15:34.320 Then after you make that annual limit,
00:15:38.000 then everything is paid at 100%.
00:15:39.920 >> Correct. That is correct. Yes.
00:15:42.160 >> And hence the reason insurance is so
00:15:43.760 high.
00:15:44.959 >> Mhm. Yeah.
00:15:48.320 Yep.
00:15:53.690 >> [snorts]
00:15:54.160 >> So maybe just in some of the
00:15:55.655 [clears throat] discussion and talking
00:15:56.800 about there was the you know um
00:15:59.279 consideration of going between do we
00:16:01.279 want to switch to the high deductible
00:16:02.880 plan right now and they made a change on
00:16:05.440 really bumping up those deductibles. So
00:16:08.720 that we just thought too that that's
00:16:11.040 quite a big change for what the county
00:16:13.839 had been in the past to now these very I
00:16:18.320 can't remember how much they increased
00:16:20.560 uh do you remember from last year to
00:16:22.560 this year it was just that we it was
00:16:24.480 announced only a couple weeks ago that
00:16:26.880 they went from which we thought was kind
00:16:28.800 of reasonable at first at like $2,000
00:16:31.519 deductible but then it jumped to 3500
00:16:33.680 and I think it was at five and then it
00:16:36.240 went to seven. So, um, you know, and I
00:16:39.040 think initially the about the 25005 is
00:16:43.199 thinking, well, that's actually pretty
00:16:44.800 reasonable out there in what we've
00:16:46.720 heard, but then when it went up, it's
00:16:49.360 kind of a big change again all at once
00:16:52.160 without having a lot of conversation
00:16:54.320 with employees and being able to talk
00:16:56.320 through it and work through that piece.
00:16:58.800 And so, [clears throat] um, that was
00:17:00.320 kind of some of the reason also maybe to
00:17:03.120 stick with the plan that we have right
00:17:04.799 now.
00:17:06.319 >> Yeah. Uh and another consideration would
00:17:09.039 be uh currently we have a flexible
00:17:11.520 spending account that we offer
00:17:13.039 employees. Um and if you were to switch
00:17:16.559 to this high deductible plan, we would
00:17:18.400 want to consider moving to more of a
00:17:20.400 health savings account in HSA. Uh being
00:17:23.039 there is this much higher out-of pocket
00:17:25.520 expense. So we employees would be able
00:17:27.839 to contribute more into that. Um so we
00:17:31.360 would have to decide um what type of
00:17:33.760 plan do we want to go with? How how do
00:17:35.679 we design that plan? How do we fund that
00:17:37.600 plan? Because there's lots of different
00:17:39.120 options to consider. And with time
00:17:42.080 running short, um open enrollment begins
00:17:45.520 October 5th and runs through the 30th.
00:17:47.760 So if we were to switch to something
00:17:49.760 like this, um [snorts] it would be a
00:17:52.559 very fast turnaround. It could
00:17:54.880 theoretically be done if that's really
00:17:56.480 the way you wanted to go. I would need
00:17:58.640 to let ETF know by October 1st that
00:18:00.960 we're switching plan designs. we could
00:18:03.600 do a second open enrollment a couple
00:18:07.600 months later once we designed our health
00:18:10.799 savings account and just did like a
00:18:12.640 special open enrollment just for
00:18:14.160 employees to decide that because we
00:18:16.080 would need time to get that in place. In
00:18:18.559 theory, it could be done. But otherwise,
00:18:21.039 if you don't want to go to the high
00:18:23.120 deductible health plan, then your
00:18:24.720 options would be we're sticking with the
00:18:26.720 low deductible one that we have now. and
00:18:29.200 then to consider what percentage we want
00:18:32.320 to do um paying towards the premium. So
00:18:35.840 paying 88% now and then your sheets um
00:18:39.520 go all the way down to what that would
00:18:41.200 look like at 80% contribution from Chelo
00:18:43.840 County. [cough and clears throat]
00:18:44.880 >> Question you brought up FSA. What what
00:18:47.679 was the rationale for changing or the
00:18:52.400 recommendation being for families
00:18:54.880 reducing that from a th00and to 500?
00:18:58.559 Yeah. Uh so the health care center uh we
00:19:02.480 would be mirroring what they actually
00:19:04.160 do. So they do a contribution of 500
00:19:06.720 towards single or family plan whichever
00:19:08.960 the employee chooses. Um and also it
00:19:11.919 would be a way to reduce cost of course
00:19:13.760 for Temple County.
00:19:15.919 >> It's kind of staying fair across both
00:19:18.880 because you're paying the employee the
00:19:20.960 same whether they're a family or single
00:19:23.840 then they're receiving the 500. I wonder
00:19:26.320 if we could segue into this sheet and
00:19:28.720 maybe if Pam could come up and talk
00:19:30.480 about that and that would kind of lay
00:19:32.240 out a little bit more on the actual
00:19:35.039 costs and why some of that conversation
00:19:37.440 came out to Supervisor Scout's point.
00:19:41.200 Then we can talk about some of the
00:19:43.120 savings pieces that we were talking
00:19:45.280 about here and how that kind of impacted
00:19:48.160 some of this discussion as well.
00:19:56.240 I printed out everything.
00:19:58.480 >> This one?
00:19:59.840 >> Yep. Good evening. It's a packet that
00:20:07.039 >> Yep. It's on the back. Yep. Flip side of
00:20:09.679 Yep. The flip side of one of your
00:20:11.039 schedule of benefits. Yep.
00:20:16.320 >> Start at the beginning. And if you were
00:20:17.840 counting, it would be one, two, three.
00:20:20.480 >> And three is on the back.
00:20:30.720 Oh, you're right. The numbered one. I
00:20:32.559 was starting at the beginning.
00:20:42.240 >> Yeah, I just got my packet all screwed
00:20:44.960 up. I was trying to find this
00:20:46.320 >> somehow. Yep. It's on the back.
00:20:51.064 >> [laughter]
00:20:52.880 >> It was also online in your packet as
00:20:54.799 well.
00:20:55.120 >> Yeah.
00:20:55.440 >> Yeah.
00:20:57.520 >> Okay. The summary sheet I put together
00:21:01.600 is for the low deductible plan. Keep in
00:21:03.919 mind all of these numbers are monthly
00:21:06.000 premiums. And because most of our
00:21:08.000 employees over 90% are on the quartz
00:21:10.960 west with dental plan that is also the
00:21:13.039 rates I use here. We could do, you know,
00:21:15.520 a million different options for you, but
00:21:17.039 I to pick one, we pick the one that most
00:21:19.440 employees are on. Um, and these are
00:21:21.919 monthly rates. So, at the top of your
00:21:23.200 sheet, it starts with the 2026, the
00:21:26.080 current plan rates. Um, it starts with
00:21:28.720 single and that's the total premium.
00:21:32.240 Then the next column shows what the
00:21:34.080 courthouse/highway
00:21:36.159 percent pays. So, that's the 88%. The
00:21:38.880 next column is what the employee pays.
00:21:41.360 Going across you have family. So for
00:21:43.760 2026, you have the full family premium
00:21:46.159 and then the 80% that the courthouse
00:21:48.320 pays and the balance the employee pays.
00:21:52.159 The next lines take you to 2027. Um so
00:21:56.880 again the first one is at 88% if you
00:21:59.360 stayed at 88% it shows the increased
00:22:01.760 single premium and then going across it
00:22:04.480 shows for the single plan um the
00:22:07.520 courthouse source highway split and the
00:22:09.679 employee split and then it goes over to
00:22:11.600 family and the split at 88%. The next
00:22:14.799 line down is 85%.
00:22:17.520 So you can see the impact how much more
00:22:19.440 the county
00:22:21.200 is taking on and how much or actually
00:22:24.080 this is the full rates the bottom we'll
00:22:25.440 get to the increases but so 85% so this
00:22:28.159 is just total premium what each group
00:22:29.840 would pay at 85 single versus family
00:22:32.590 [clears throat] 83 and 80. Um now to do
00:22:36.080 the math for you that's what's on the
00:22:37.520 bottom of the sheet. So at 88% for
00:22:40.799 instance um the single rate is going up
00:22:43.440 $248.68 68 a month. The family rate is
00:22:47.840 going up $617.68
00:22:50.400 a month
00:22:52.159 for a single. The courthouse and this is
00:22:54.640 at 88%. For the single, the courthouse
00:22:57.200 is taking on an additional $218.84
00:23:00.559 per month. An employee would go up
00:23:02.880 $29.84 per month. On the family plan,
00:23:06.559 the courthouse would be taking on an
00:23:08.080 additional $543.56
00:23:10.880 per month. an employee would be taking
00:23:12.960 on an additional $74.12 per month. Now,
00:23:16.400 the one that was recommended is the line
00:23:18.240 below it, which is the 85%.
00:23:21.440 Which shows um again for a single
00:23:24.480 courthouse taking on an extra $17876,
00:23:26.799 the employee taking on an extra 69.92.
00:23:30.000 And for family, the courthouse taking on
00:23:31.919 an extra $44.78
00:23:34.000 per month, and the employee taking on an
00:23:36.240 extra $172.90.
00:23:38.240 83% is there as well as 80. So the
00:23:41.039 bottom is the net change or the increase
00:23:44.000 if you did the math on the numbers
00:23:45.840 above. I know you can all do that in
00:23:47.200 your head, but if not, I just put the
00:23:48.799 numbers below because for me it's easier
00:23:51.120 and I thought it might be for you as
00:23:52.480 well. So the bottom is the net change.
00:23:56.000 Um then to the in the bright yellow box
00:23:59.840 in total, what does that mean to the
00:24:01.760 county? And that's kind of why one of
00:24:04.480 the main reasons we're here tonight.
00:24:05.679 It's a lot of money. at 88%
00:24:08.159 the increase is $831,587
00:24:13.440 and that is taking into consideration
00:24:16.080 that some departments for instance human
00:24:18.799 services and highway as well as um I
00:24:22.080 believe child support as well there's a
00:24:23.919 percent that their programs and they
00:24:26.159 have funding sources that will take on
00:24:28.320 that so we did adjust the number
00:24:31.360 originally the number was just over a
00:24:32.799 million dollars assuming it was
00:24:35.200 completely levy funed
00:24:36.880 it will not have to be. Um there's some
00:24:39.200 programs that will take on a little bit
00:24:40.880 of the extra expense. So that's why, but
00:24:43.360 88% is $831,587
00:24:47.120 of extra that we will have to figure out
00:24:49.919 how to cover um with levy limits and
00:24:52.640 whatnot. And there is a page in your
00:24:54.000 packet that I can get to just a 10,000
00:24:56.720 foot view of an initial snapshot of your
00:24:59.200 budget. why we're talking about this
00:25:01.440 because
00:25:02.960 there isn't really the excess revenue or
00:25:06.480 cuts to cover that at 85%. That's the
00:25:10.080 number that was in Rebecca's memo.
00:25:11.600 That's 680,276.
00:25:14.240 And again, there's the 83 and the 80%.
00:25:16.400 So those numbers in yellow are kind of
00:25:17.919 the big picture. What does it mean to
00:25:19.120 the bottom line? So now, um, there's
00:25:22.880 another sheet in your packet that I'll
00:25:24.559 just touch on. We've talked about it a
00:25:26.320 little bit. Um it t it talks about the
00:25:29.520 annual savings from the FSA plan and
00:25:31.600 also the waiver. This is what it looks
00:25:34.320 like.
00:25:58.960 So what I'll talk through there and as
00:26:00.799 it's titled it says annual savings from
00:26:02.720 not funding or changing funding for
00:26:05.120 deductible in the FSA plan.
00:26:06.559 >> Thank you.
00:26:07.840 >> When I did this I took a snapshot at
00:26:09.840 that point in time we had 61 single
00:26:12.799 plans and 129 family plans. I'll give
00:26:16.480 everybody a moment. And it looks like
00:26:17.600 maybe people haven't found it
00:26:21.200 >> okay. It's on the back of Rebecca's
00:26:22.559 memo. I'm told
00:26:24.320 >> the second
00:26:25.039 >> in the handouts.
00:26:27.279 >> It was also in the packet that um was
00:26:30.320 online as well for you. [snorts] Okay.
00:26:32.799 It's in the back of Rebecca's memo. Um
00:26:35.279 taking our turn to total plans 61 plans
00:26:38.240 at 500
00:26:40.159 three that's 30,500. 129 plan plans. If
00:26:44.000 we did the thousand a piece, that's
00:26:46.080 129,000. So that is an annual cost of
00:26:49.120 159,500.
00:26:52.799 The proposed change would take putting
00:26:55.600 them both at 500. Um, and as Shelley
00:26:58.159 commented, that would say, you know, no
00:26:59.760 matter what an employee chooses, if they
00:27:02.320 choose to take a single plan, if they
00:27:03.520 choose to take a family plan, every
00:27:05.440 employee gets 500 equally. So that was
00:27:08.400 kind of the theory behind that. um that
00:27:12.240 totals 95,000.
00:27:14.400 So that's the savings of 64,500
00:27:17.919 assuming the same amount of plans. Now
00:27:19.600 with open enrollment things obviously
00:27:21.200 change but just to use it as a starting
00:27:23.600 point when I took a snapshot in time.
00:27:26.640 The uh other thing that we talked a bit
00:27:28.640 about in exec finance is [clears throat]
00:27:30.960 offering a incentive payment or a
00:27:33.120 waiver. [snorts]
00:27:33.760 That is similar to also what the
00:27:35.360 healthcare center does. And the math
00:27:37.600 that I did in your packet is and I did
00:27:39.840 use the 2026 cost of right now the
00:27:42.720 county pay is 2353.98
00:27:45.039 for a family plan. Multiply that by 12
00:27:47.840 months. So for every person who takes a
00:27:50.320 family plan um the courthouse pays
00:27:53.120 $28,248.
00:27:56.000 If we offered an incentive or a waiver
00:27:58.320 payment of $200 a month, that would mean
00:28:00.720 we would give an employee $2,400
00:28:03.679 if they waved health insurance. Thus,
00:28:06.559 the net savings is $25,848.
00:28:11.600 Now, as your memo said, we had to from
00:28:14.159 exec finance meeting last or or PB I
00:28:17.120 guess it was PB I excuse me, it was PB
00:28:19.440 committee that we talked about this
00:28:20.720 first. Um, we said we had to do some
00:28:22.399 initial calculations
00:28:24.320 because potentially there's people right
00:28:25.679 now that aren't on our plan that then
00:28:27.919 would qualify for a waiver payment. So,
00:28:29.919 that really is additional expense you
00:28:31.840 could incur.
00:28:33.679 We did go through and I looked at
00:28:35.200 everybody um and Shelley helped us
00:28:37.279 figure out potentially what their
00:28:38.399 situations might be to figure out what
00:28:40.320 extra cost there might be, how many
00:28:41.919 waiverss we'd end up um potentially
00:28:45.279 increasing cost by based on our current
00:28:47.600 2026 enrollment. And that additional
00:28:49.840 cost is 64,800.
00:28:52.559 So you would essentially to be net even
00:28:56.960 if two people would wave a family plan,
00:28:59.440 you'd be even. Then if additional people
00:29:02.080 would wave, that's then where your
00:29:04.000 actual true savings would be if people
00:29:06.159 waved coverage. Um if we paid them the
00:29:08.720 payment versus paying the much more
00:29:11.200 expensive and the much more expensive
00:29:13.440 family plan. Um I also did I looked at
00:29:15.520 the 2027 rates. the 2027 rates at 85% a
00:29:19.440 family plan would be it's 33,585 annual
00:29:22.640 cost versus the 2400 um and 13,000 a
00:29:27.120 single plan would be 13,627.
00:29:29.919 Now
00:29:32.240 it's hard to know how many people would
00:29:34.880 take a waiver. Right now our low
00:29:37.039 deductible plan um is a pretty good
00:29:40.240 plan. Now if I was standing up here
00:29:42.320 saying, "Hey, we're going with a high
00:29:43.760 deductible plan." you might have a lot
00:29:46.000 more people with an incentive to hey
00:29:47.520 take a waiver if they have alternate
00:29:49.039 coverage available that most likely
00:29:50.790 [clears throat and cough]
00:29:51.360 may be better but with our low
00:29:53.039 deductible plan being a pretty good plan
00:29:55.679 potentially I'm not exactly sure how
00:29:57.440 many people really would at this point
00:29:59.120 take a waiver
00:30:00.880 >> so waving it
00:30:03.600 >> question you got it in your right
00:30:04.960 >> N go ahead
00:30:06.080 >> um if we if they take a waiver would we
00:30:09.360 have to have some way to to guarantee
00:30:12.159 that they had credable coverage in
00:30:14.960 another way, shape, or form? Or how do
00:30:17.600 we make sure that they aren't um
00:30:20.080 collecting a waiver without having
00:30:22.159 coverage? Or if they're going through a
00:30:25.120 a state program or they're getting
00:30:27.279 credit from what what do we do to cover
00:30:29.200 ourselves?
00:30:30.880 >> Well, we wouldn't need to cover
00:30:32.080 ourselves. When we talked about it at
00:30:33.600 the PB committee, that is something we
00:30:35.200 did propose, right?
00:30:36.720 >> And the committee felt that um they
00:30:39.520 asked us to write a draft policy. So,
00:30:41.679 uh, Shelley and and Lisa and I met and
00:30:43.840 then Shel did draft a policy. And that's
00:30:45.360 one thing I that was one of the last
00:30:46.799 things we handed out tonight was that
00:30:48.240 draft policy, but the PB committee um
00:30:51.760 did not feel that that was something to
00:30:54.720 put in there as an eligibility criteria
00:30:57.120 that somebody would have to give proof
00:30:58.480 of qualifying coverage. If they wave and
00:31:00.559 want to go uninsured for whatever
00:31:02.320 reason, we don't really we aren't
00:31:03.840 concerned with why they wave. If they
00:31:05.039 wave and they sign that they're waving,
00:31:07.440 >> they would qualify. So that's if you
00:31:09.600 choose to potentially want to offer a
00:31:11.600 waiver, then we can get into discussing
00:31:13.679 that draft policy that we gave you
00:31:15.120 because the PB committee did ask that we
00:31:17.279 bring forward that policy tonight for
00:31:18.799 you.
00:31:20.080 >> Question. Um where did the $200 come
00:31:24.240 from for the waiver amount?
00:31:27.440 >> Yeah. Um we as we said earlier uh the
00:31:31.039 healthcare center was in the meetings
00:31:32.880 with us and we aligned that with right
00:31:34.960 now they offer they actually offer a
00:31:36.640 couple tiers from 0 to five years of
00:31:38.640 service they offer $200 and from five
00:31:41.279 plus years of service they offer $400.
00:31:43.919 Um right now just for year one since
00:31:46.640 this is kind of a one-year thing and as
00:31:48.480 we eval do a lot of evaluating of other
00:31:50.480 options for next year we just put the
00:31:52.640 one [clears throat] um
00:31:53.919 >> I mean given the savings it seems like
00:31:56.480 you could sweeten it a little bit
00:31:59.827 [snorts] and increase that amount. you
00:32:02.320 could the other factor um the state of
00:32:04.880 Wisconsin which you know if you were
00:32:07.519 state employee so we we considered what
00:32:09.760 they offer for state employees because
00:32:12.399 they're also part of ETF and they offer
00:32:14.720 2,000 a year so trying to stay
00:32:18.159 reasonable with what they offer as well
00:32:19.919 as potentially align with um the healthc
00:32:22.320 care center we selected 200 or 200 a
00:32:25.679 month which is 2400 a year
00:32:27.679 >> and would the waiver be only for family
00:32:30.080 or would it could a single waiver for
00:32:32.159 anybody.
00:32:33.200 >> Yeah. And that's the policy we handed
00:32:34.880 out if if you indeed do because as I
00:32:37.360 said it's we did the additional work and
00:32:39.200 we we estimate it'll be probably about
00:32:41.679 64,800 in extra expense
00:32:45.919 and then depends on how many people you
00:32:47.440 think might if people might actually
00:32:49.120 take a waiver to be net even. You would
00:32:51.360 need essentially two family plans or um
00:32:55.440 you know four single plans or a
00:32:57.279 combination thereof to be net even. And
00:33:00.640 I'm not sure with our plan being a
00:33:02.320 fairly good plan.
00:33:05.679 >> I'm not how sure how comfortable I would
00:33:07.360 be recommending that we will have that
00:33:09.360 many waiverss here in year one to
00:33:12.080 >> I just wanted to clarify is the $200 the
00:33:16.880 same for a single versus a family.
00:33:19.440 >> Okay.
00:33:20.080 >> Because we don't know I mean if you wave
00:33:21.840 we don't know if you would have chose a
00:33:22.880 single or a family. We just you're
00:33:24.559 waving and
00:33:26.880 those are things we wouldn't ask.
00:33:29.840 >> And if they do wave though, there is no
00:33:31.760 concern at the county level in the
00:33:34.480 insurance world that
00:33:38.000 you know they do not have credible
00:33:40.000 coverage. I mean there is no requirement
00:33:43.519 for
00:33:44.159 >> correct. Not on our end. No, we do not
00:33:46.880 have to.
00:33:47.760 >> Nope, we do not have to ask that. And
00:33:49.519 the healthcare center does not ask that
00:33:51.360 of their employees either under their
00:33:53.279 policy.
00:33:54.720 >> Lori, go ahead.
00:33:55.519 >> Yes. I I'm just wondering how do we
00:33:57.279 compare with other employees within the
00:34:00.080 county uh as far as the insurance part
00:34:02.799 goes? Are we better than most?
00:34:06.320 >> I think better than most,
00:34:08.000 >> I would think, but I'm just wondering if
00:34:10.079 you've done any if we've done any
00:34:11.599 research on that. Are we the best or are
00:34:13.679 we, you know, where are we at?
00:34:15.520 >> Rebecca's brought forward that sheet.
00:34:17.280 Um, and then I also have one that has
00:34:19.040 numerous counties and if you scan down
00:34:20.560 through it, ours is a very good plan.
00:34:23.040 >> Yeah, most counties. Now, there were a
00:34:26.800 few on there. Um, you know, I brought
00:34:29.440 forward a number of counties last year.
00:34:31.520 I don't think we have that in this
00:34:32.800 packet, right? I apologize. Um, but that
00:34:35.760 was shared um at the I think at the last
00:34:39.200 board meeting where we had a a um
00:34:42.800 multiple that we looked at for this year
00:34:44.560 and we had last year. Most counties have
00:34:47.119 moved to a higher deductible plan and
00:34:50.240 worked outside of ETF. I think we found
00:34:52.720 like three or four other counties that
00:34:55.440 still are with ETF, but it's not not
00:34:58.400 that many. Um and so yes, uh that has
00:35:02.960 been the shift because of the cost.
00:35:05.599 Yeah. And the and not you don't have the
00:35:07.839 flexibility. I think what we're looking
00:35:10.079 for again and and when Pam and Shelley
00:35:13.200 are talking about this and saying these
00:35:14.720 are all draft ideas. So when you're
00:35:16.960 asking questions about this waiver,
00:35:19.680 right, we're we're flexible. You know,
00:35:21.440 we had some discussion last year about
00:35:23.280 that, you know, covering the deductible,
00:35:26.480 right? And so now we're saying we would
00:35:28.160 shift to the 500500,
00:35:31.040 you know, that that's up for discussion
00:35:33.359 and and looking at what our costs are
00:35:35.440 and all. And and when we had these
00:35:37.920 discussions, it was a big consideration
00:35:40.240 and talking again about, you know, we're
00:35:42.480 shifting some to the employee still the
00:35:45.440 county's taking on the brunt of it, but
00:35:48.400 u that is our priority again, right? Our
00:35:50.960 our employees and so we're shifting some
00:35:54.240 what what makes it you know uh so that
00:35:57.440 they feel like I I think one thing you
00:35:59.839 have to think about is you know there is
00:36:02.480 that shift but you got to look at again
00:36:05.760 the how much the county is picking up.
00:36:08.880 >> And when you look at that in comparison
00:36:11.119 to what a wage increase is, this is a
00:36:14.160 huge contribution to individuals. Um,
00:36:18.079 and I guess that that I, you know, I
00:36:20.000 think that's something that we got to
00:36:21.119 keep talking about is as a part of a
00:36:23.280 package. This is this is really um it's
00:36:27.280 a lot. Yeah. So
00:36:31.359 >> I guess do we know if there is any other
00:36:34.960 place that our employees that we
00:36:37.040 obviously value, but is there other
00:36:39.119 places that they could work and get this
00:36:42.160 same package within Triple County?
00:36:44.720 >> Can I can I make just one comment? Uh
00:36:47.119 the plan that the county has
00:36:48.800 historically has been called the
00:36:50.800 Cadillac plan.
00:36:52.560 >> Well, that that sums it up. [laughter]
00:36:55.040 >> Everybody else is driving the Chevy. We
00:36:56.640 got the Cadillac. Yes.
00:36:57.920 >> And I do have a handout from and excuse
00:37:01.040 me, I don't remember if it was PBU exact
00:37:02.560 finance. So, some of you have seen this
00:37:04.000 before. There were um Lacrosse,
00:37:07.280 Oakclair, Buffalo, Chipua, Clark, and
00:37:09.119 Jackson are the counties that are listed
00:37:10.640 on here. Of those counties,
00:37:14.000 um Oakclair, there's only two others
00:37:17.280 that give any sort of subsidy like we
00:37:19.359 do, the 500, 10,000. Oaklair gives
00:37:21.680 750,500
00:37:23.359 and Chipoa. Um let's see here. Starts at
00:37:28.079 five uh employee only. Um and their H
00:37:33.280 contribution uh varies by their coverage
00:37:35.280 tier. So that's it out of those. And
00:37:37.359 then scanning down on the deductible um
00:37:40.400 you got lacrosse that's at 1350 and
00:37:42.560 2750. Um you got that's 3500 and 7,000
00:37:46.480 with even higher max out of pockets. Uh
00:37:48.720 Buffalo they have a platinum and a gold
00:37:50.720 plan but their platinum which is their
00:37:52.000 best is a,000 2,000. Yeah. Chipo was
00:37:54.880 3,000 6,000. The only one that's down
00:37:57.920 Jackson is 2,000 4,000 with even higher
00:38:00.640 out of pockets. Those are just initial
00:38:02.400 with higher out of pockets. Um the only
00:38:04.320 one close to us is Clark. They're 10020,
00:38:08.160 but then they have max out of pockets.
00:38:10.640 These are their deductibles. I'm sorry.
00:38:12.480 I'm talking about deductible levels
00:38:13.760 here. Um they have a $100, $200 single
00:38:16.960 family deductible with max out of
00:38:18.640 pockets of 1,600 and 3200. So ours is
00:38:22.960 hearing all those numbers and hearing
00:38:24.160 our 500 10,000 deductible which is then
00:38:27.119 some put in FSA. Ours is again
00:38:31.119 >> Cadillac are their premiums quite a bit
00:38:33.119 lower though because of the higher
00:38:34.720 deductibles. Was that
00:38:36.720 >> Let's look here.
00:38:38.880 Um
00:38:43.280 that's usually what happens when you go
00:38:45.040 into those high deductible plans and the
00:38:46.880 premiums are lower. So I just
00:38:50.160 >> yeah some let's see I can just eyeball
00:38:53.040 it here but
00:38:54.800 >> that's why it would be nice to be able
00:38:56.240 to offer something that has choice for
00:38:58.880 people.
00:39:00.640 >> So right now a single 130
00:39:05.839 employee
00:39:07.440 130 the ones that are significantly
00:39:08.960 higher are a little bit less than 100.
00:39:11.599 Um, yeah, but here's 1,000 2,000 single
00:39:15.520 family deductible, a employee premium of
00:39:17.839 249 and 572 and we're 130 and 321 with
00:39:22.000 significantly better lower deductibles,
00:39:24.079 better coverage. Um,
00:39:26.079 >> so question, so is it fair to say that
00:39:29.839 with the the FSA contribution
00:39:34.079 that um and the Cadillac plan that we
00:39:37.839 have, there's essentially no deductible.
00:39:40.320 >> Right. Correct.
00:39:44.400 >> Um, so I understand the recommendation
00:39:47.200 that is before us. What I'm unsure of is
00:39:49.200 how we intend to fund it.
00:39:51.200 >> Um,
00:39:52.400 >> I have one more page that I can flip
00:39:53.920 over to, and that's I think I alluded it
00:39:55.440 to it earlier, but it's kind of our
00:39:57.040 budget 10,000 foot view. Um,
00:40:00.160 >> this is what it looks like.
00:40:10.720 online in your packet. If you're on your
00:40:12.800 electronic packet, it was the very last
00:40:14.640 page. I'm guessing it's the very last
00:40:17.119 page in the handout packet as well.
00:40:25.920 >> Very last page.
00:40:29.839 >> Yeah.
00:40:31.388 [clears throat]
00:40:32.043 [cough]
00:40:32.800 Yeah.
00:40:33.839 >> On the very last page in both electronic
00:40:35.839 and the handout for tonight.
00:40:53.200 >> Okay. Did everybody find it?
00:40:55.280 >> Okay. We still have a lot of budget
00:40:57.119 numbers coming in from departments. Um
00:40:59.920 they were
00:41:01.520 depending upon the department. But um
00:41:04.400 just stepping back and Rebecca had sent
00:41:07.760 them out an email asking them to
00:41:09.680 basically hold their bottom line. So the
00:41:11.599 amount of levy dollars they got in 2026,
00:41:14.560 even if they had to adjust things
00:41:15.920 amongst the lines, hold that levy
00:41:18.319 dollar. The reason being, you've
00:41:20.720 probably all heard about um new
00:41:23.359 construction. That's what I usually
00:41:25.359 refer to as your new money. Uh in and we
00:41:28.480 are in a down year. Rebecca, I know
00:41:30.319 shared kind of the trends and we are
00:41:31.839 kind of on a down year. Uh 84,441. So
00:41:35.200 that's the first number on there and the
00:41:36.560 ones in parenthesis on here are new
00:41:38.400 revenues. Sales tax I had initially um
00:41:41.680 after looking at the first five months
00:41:43.200 of the year um put some new revenue in
00:41:45.599 there but then we just recently looked
00:41:47.839 after 6 months worth and we actually
00:41:49.839 have a decrease in revenue year to date.
00:41:52.079 The exec finance committee had actually
00:41:54.560 said to uh put a decrease in the budget
00:41:58.720 for revenue 2026 versus 2027. I left
00:42:03.280 this at net zero. I'm really hoping
00:42:04.640 we'll see another month where things
00:42:05.680 will bounce back and at least we'll be
00:42:07.280 net even for sales tax, but I put zero
00:42:10.560 in here for now. the additional fund
00:42:12.720 balance. Uh when the auditors um are
00:42:14.800 here and present to you, you will see
00:42:16.800 the an extra $143,529
00:42:20.560 that came from 2025 that gets returned
00:42:23.520 back to the general fund. So that
00:42:25.119 essentially you could use shared
00:42:27.324 [snorts] revenues. I'm still waiting for
00:42:29.520 those numbers. I didn't put any
00:42:30.960 increase. If there is one, I'm guessing
00:42:32.640 it'll be pretty modest. So I left that
00:42:34.640 flat. Then the highlighted the expense
00:42:37.359 of health insurance. It depends how much
00:42:38.880 extra expense you want to add to this,
00:42:40.319 but right now there's zero in here. Uh
00:42:43.280 cost of living 2%. If you wanted to give
00:42:45.520 2% um it's estimated at $150,000.
00:42:49.599 Uh step increases, I'm told that
00:42:52.400 potentially employees didn't haven't
00:42:53.680 gotten step increases for a couple
00:42:55.119 years. Those are if they're on a wage um
00:42:59.119 a grade level, every year of service,
00:43:02.160 they get bumped up. It's called step
00:43:04.800 increase. So, if you wanted to do that
00:43:07.440 across the board, it would be about
00:43:08.960 $100,000.
00:43:10.640 Um, I did not put anything to implement
00:43:13.599 the wage and salary survey because in
00:43:16.079 2026, there's 60,000 in there. Um,
00:43:21.280 we're not supposed to get those results
00:43:22.720 until December or first quarter of 2027.
00:43:25.920 So, that money will go back to the
00:43:27.200 general fund and can be pulled right
00:43:28.400 back out to use in 2027.
00:43:31.200 However, I did note above um on the cost
00:43:34.000 of living, potentially a suggestion is
00:43:36.880 that
00:43:39.440 if you save that cost of living and wait
00:43:41.119 and see what happens on the wage
00:43:42.560 increase and then if most people end up
00:43:44.480 at fair market and you want to give the
00:43:46.000 2% or can you use some of it to address
00:43:48.480 people that maybe aren't at fair market
00:43:50.240 when others are at fair market, it's
00:43:52.079 just all kind of an implementation
00:43:53.359 strategy if you so choose. But that's
00:43:55.760 the other 150 you can you could do
00:43:57.760 either way with that, but that's a
00:43:59.040 choice. Um,
00:44:02.000 retirement rates, they did go up just a
00:44:03.680 little bit. It's estimated at about
00:44:05.119 $20,000.
00:44:06.800 I have zero expense for new positions. I
00:44:09.599 think, um, some of the committees have
00:44:11.520 seen requests. Rebecca does have a list
00:44:13.520 of requests for new positions. Right
00:44:15.440 now, I have that in at zero. Then
00:44:17.440 another highlighted line is expense
00:44:19.440 adjustment for FSA. If you want to
00:44:21.680 reduce that, and again, that's at
00:44:23.520 $64,000 savings. Right now, I have that
00:44:25.359 at zero. Waiver elections, I put that at
00:44:27.920 zero.
00:44:29.680 There's been a lot of discussion
00:44:31.040 changing corner to medical examiner. You
00:44:33.359 know what the expense difference is
00:44:34.640 there. Right now there's nothing in
00:44:35.839 here. I've listed other fund levy
00:44:38.240 request. Right now there's zero in for
00:44:39.920 that as well. I think property committee
00:44:42.319 just the other day heard Jeremy talk
00:44:43.839 about utilities and things he's just
00:44:46.160 cannot avoid that will be going up. This
00:44:48.480 assumes zero for any of those requests
00:44:51.280 that can't be absorbed. And then I know
00:44:53.200 the human services committee, you guys,
00:44:54.560 you those of you on [snorts] that
00:44:55.599 committee talk about those placements,
00:44:57.280 those that are always interesting that
00:44:59.359 the county has to fund with levies. So
00:45:00.960 those are just 10,000 foot view large
00:45:03.280 items. And you can see assuming that
00:45:06.000 we're still at a deficit of 42,000 and
00:45:08.640 that's without any of the health
00:45:11.200 increase or health insurance impacts
00:45:12.880 we're talking about tonight. So
00:45:16.079 >> are we able to increase the tax?
00:45:20.246 [snorts]
00:45:21.839 No.
00:45:23.839 >> No.
00:45:24.800 >> Yeah. Net new construction is the amount
00:45:26.240 you can
00:45:28.079 >> raise.
00:45:28.560 >> Yeah.
00:45:29.760 >> Yeah. [clears throat] So that is why the
00:45:31.520 recommendation letter basically said for
00:45:33.280 2027 depending upon what you do for
00:45:35.119 health insurance and knowing all these
00:45:36.720 other pieces are out there and what this
00:45:38.640 big picture view already looks like. Um
00:45:40.960 before I bring you all the wonderful
00:45:42.880 detail um that's where we're at. Just
00:45:46.480 stepping back. So that's why this
00:45:48.160 decision is kind of before you today
00:45:50.079 because Shelley does need to know one
00:45:52.079 for open enrollment in October [snorts]
00:45:53.839 as well as if you did want to make a
00:45:55.119 change, we'd need a resolution for ETF.
00:45:57.119 But
00:45:58.000 >> the the one if I could just step in. Um
00:46:01.440 the one good thing is is if you remember
00:46:03.839 when Baker Tilly was here, we have
00:46:06.160 benefited from a really healthy general
00:46:09.680 fund and that we put a lot of money back
00:46:11.920 into the general fund and we are way
00:46:14.079 over the necessary amount like we have a
00:46:17.520 really healthy cushion. So, you know,
00:46:20.160 you can think about it as this year as
00:46:23.920 absorbing it through that to kind of
00:46:26.240 cushion it, knowing again that our
00:46:28.960 recommendation is really that we got to
00:46:30.800 really push forward on researching and
00:46:34.000 making sure we're bringing options
00:46:35.520 forward and looking at other cost
00:46:37.119 savings for 2028.
00:46:41.280 But that that's why the recommendation
00:46:43.520 is to take the take the hit,
00:46:47.359 >> use some of those excess funds that
00:46:49.280 we're we're blessed with and then um to
00:46:52.720 be to be able to soften to keep the
00:46:54.960 priority as our employees and
00:46:59.040 understanding that they have to be a
00:47:00.960 partner in this that it can't be all the
00:47:03.839 county um because we are going to take
00:47:05.839 on extra costs. Yeah, we know that in in
00:47:08.720 IT too, the costs are just extraordinary
00:47:12.000 right now and how they're increasing and
00:47:14.160 we know through maintenance and it we're
00:47:16.240 going to see those and in other
00:47:17.920 departments we're hoping that they can
00:47:19.440 really make sure to hold the line. That
00:47:21.280 has been the instruction so to hold the
00:47:23.760 line. Go ahead.
00:47:25.760 >> So, um I'm looking at this sheet right
00:47:28.960 here. Um the single
00:47:34.400 deductible is 500. um and then the
00:47:37.440 family is a thousand. You've cut the
00:47:39.200 family deductible or the reimbursement
00:47:42.560 by half.
00:47:44.880 Is there any if we cut the
00:47:49.119 single in half,
00:47:51.599 we'd have an additional 1500 $15,000 in
00:47:54.800 savings. Now, just and you can correct
00:47:59.040 me if I'm wrong, but the wellness is all
00:48:02.560 covered at 100%. That doesn't go towards
00:48:05.040 deductible. It doesn't go towards
00:48:06.880 anything. Correct.
00:48:08.640 >> Yes.
00:48:09.839 >> Okay. And single people generally go to
00:48:13.520 the doctor less than families,
00:48:17.200 >> I would think, as a rule. Um, not
00:48:19.359 necessarily everybody, but I mean, even
00:48:21.680 if we cut it in half or
00:48:25.680 because the family really is taking the
00:48:27.839 hit,
00:48:28.800 >> right?
00:48:31.680 >> Just a suggestion. You could you you
00:48:33.440 could do any contribution amount that
00:48:36.079 you would like or or zero contribution
00:48:38.720 um to the FSA and simply allow
00:48:40.678 [clears throat] the employee to do their
00:48:42.000 own contribution if they would so
00:48:43.520 choose.
00:48:44.400 >> And do you put that contribution in all
00:48:46.079 at one time or do you put it in monthly?
00:48:48.640 >> So the we have a self-funded flexible
00:48:51.440 spending account um is how we do it
00:48:54.480 here. And so what happens is as each
00:48:56.559 employee spends the money from their FSA
00:48:59.920 account,
00:49:00.800 >> that money gets pulled out of our bank
00:49:02.880 account as the transaction occurs.
00:49:05.599 >> Okay. And it's a use it or lose it,
00:49:07.839 right? That's why you do it that way.
00:49:09.680 >> It is a use it or lose it. Yes.
00:49:11.440 >> Okay. [clears throat]
00:49:12.160 >> Y
00:49:13.520 >> if I remember correctly, um last year
00:49:16.240 there had been talk about
00:49:19.040 decreasing the amount that the county
00:49:21.440 funded. Was it decrease or
00:49:24.319 stop covering it? I don't recall.
00:49:26.240 >> As discussion, I had brought forward the
00:49:28.640 elimination of that and how much that
00:49:30.800 would offset, right? And just to look
00:49:32.559 at, hey, this is the savings because we
00:49:35.200 were looking at here are the positions
00:49:37.280 that were requested and you can't, you
00:49:40.160 know, we couldn't fit in all the
00:49:41.760 positions, you know, that was an option
00:49:44.400 to eliminate and save so that you could
00:49:47.440 offset to do the other.
00:49:50.480 >> Thank you for the reminder. I just I
00:49:51.920 couldn't quite remember exactly what we
00:49:53.760 had talked about.
00:49:57.314 [cough]
00:49:57.969 [clears throat]
00:50:02.720 >> Any other questions for these two?
00:50:05.440 >> Maybe maybe for somebody anyway. I'm
00:50:08.449 [clears throat] interested in
00:50:10.079 understanding at least a little bit
00:50:12.000 better what other options we think we
00:50:14.720 might be able to pursue for 2028. So,
00:50:18.240 we're kind of we're kind of at this uh
00:50:20.079 it feels like we're at a bridge, right?
00:50:21.760 Like we're we're saying, "Let's do this
00:50:23.920 for this year, but we're gonna really
00:50:26.000 search our options for next year and
00:50:27.839 really hopefully, I would assume, come
00:50:29.839 up with some additional savings by
00:50:31.359 making some potential changes." Is there
00:50:34.079 any discussion that could be shared with
00:50:36.480 the group that says what what what kind
00:50:38.800 of options are available? What do we
00:50:40.319 think that impact would be?
00:50:43.280 >> I don't know if you want to hit on that,
00:50:45.359 Chill. I can give a little bit first and
00:50:47.359 just saying in my conversations with the
00:50:50.880 school districts because I've reached
00:50:52.559 out to all of them. They're very happy
00:50:55.119 with self-funding and that is what I've
00:50:57.839 also talked to a number of counties
00:51:00.319 about. Um very happy with it. They've
00:51:03.760 saved a significant amount of money. Um
00:51:07.920 but not everybody. And so it has to be
00:51:10.559 researched because then there are those
00:51:12.800 outlying counties or communities or you
00:51:17.359 know schools that go well we're paying
00:51:20.160 more and then I have heard from um other
00:51:24.240 counties saying we wish we could get
00:51:25.839 back into ETF. So, I mean, I just that's
00:51:28.640 why I think it really takes some
00:51:30.480 research to make sure [clears throat]
00:51:31.760 that it's the right choice because it
00:51:33.680 also looks at the usage and the the age
00:51:37.599 of the people here and how the usage and
00:51:41.680 um how we're going to, you know,
00:51:43.200 potentially save money and doing sort.
00:51:45.440 So, we had talked to the insurance
00:51:47.680 center about and they are they're
00:51:50.079 interested in having the conversation
00:51:51.760 and bringing that forward, but that
00:51:53.839 seems to be one of the the biggest
00:51:56.079 options that seems to be quite popular.
00:51:58.640 So, maybe if Shel, if you could talk
00:52:00.400 about it.
00:52:01.200 >> Yeah, we we did have the insurance
00:52:03.119 center come um and actually do a
00:52:05.520 presentation for us just like Becky and
00:52:07.839 and the HR team. Um, and and they were
00:52:10.640 proposing being able to to save us money
00:52:13.280 and still be able to offer similar plans
00:52:16.240 with similar premiums and low
00:52:18.319 deductible, too. And with them, we could
00:52:21.760 have two plan designs. You could have
00:52:23.440 both a low deductible and a high
00:52:25.119 deductible. So, employees could choose
00:52:27.680 um, you know, wherever they are in their
00:52:29.680 life stage of what plan works best for
00:52:32.240 them. So,
00:52:34.319 >> dumb question, I think, but
00:52:36.960 >> I've never had to deal too much with
00:52:38.480 this stuff outside of what's offered to
00:52:40.240 me. What does self-funded mean? What
00:52:42.640 What exactly how does that work?
00:52:44.720 >> Thank you.
00:52:45.760 >> Yeah.
00:52:47.616 [sighs]
00:52:48.079 >> Uh I don't know. I don't know a whole
00:52:50.559 lot about it. It would be like our um
00:52:53.440 workman's comp. Yeah. Our workman's
00:52:55.599 comp. So,
00:52:56.960 >> so your cla so what your health
00:53:02.400 what it actually costs what is actually
00:53:04.640 paid in claims um matters because that
00:53:09.200 will increase your cost as a county if
00:53:12.000 your claim cost goes up over time now
00:53:15.440 under ETF that's not so much a concern
00:53:19.280 for us here we're in the pool right the
00:53:22.720 counties that you know have ETF as their
00:53:24.720 insurance we're in this large pool. And
00:53:27.520 so, yes, we do see an overall increase
00:53:29.920 in total premiums, which we definitely
00:53:32.319 are seeing this year pretty
00:53:33.760 significantly, but our individual claims
00:53:37.839 that are happening within Toolo County
00:53:40.319 are not directly causing our premium
00:53:43.839 increase from our employees directly
00:53:47.280 based on their usage of
00:53:48.532 [clears throat and cough] insurance.
00:53:50.480 So,
00:53:51.119 >> and [snorts] then essentially what you
00:53:52.319 would do is instead of us, you know,
00:53:54.079 right now we're budgeting how much it's
00:53:55.680 going to take us to cover these
00:53:56.720 premiums, you would budget an estimated
00:53:59.359 amount and essentially set it aside
00:54:02.160 >> to pay these claims. And well, with some
00:54:05.440 counties, you know, if they've had
00:54:06.640 higher claims than what they put aside,
00:54:09.040 you know, they've you have to come up
00:54:10.480 with excess money. And that's some of
00:54:11.680 the counties that have had issues and
00:54:13.359 they're like, "Boy, we want to get back
00:54:14.480 an ETF." and or maybe your claims are
00:54:17.440 low and then you you have some savings.
00:54:20.160 So, right now we're what's called fully
00:54:22.079 insured. Um, and the other end of the
00:54:24.240 spectrum is the self-insured and there
00:54:25.920 are some in the middle that I'm familiar
00:54:28.079 with where
00:54:29.200 >> perhaps you cover the first 50,000 per
00:54:31.599 employee and then you buy an insurance
00:54:33.520 policy that covers everything over that.
00:54:35.520 So there's a lot of options between
00:54:37.839 fully insured and self-insured, but
00:54:39.599 that's where starting to talk with like
00:54:41.440 the insurance center or other groups to
00:54:43.440 see what they have. And actually even um
00:54:47.040 you know in my history I've had where
00:54:48.319 we've tried to get quotes and it's been
00:54:50.800 an unhealthy group and we couldn't find
00:54:52.720 anybody else to quote us.
00:54:54.880 >> Yeah.
00:54:55.200 >> So you kind of are staying where you're
00:54:56.880 at. So, I don't know the specific
00:54:59.280 health, nor do I want to know the
00:55:00.960 specific health of all of our employees,
00:55:03.359 but um it really depends on your
00:55:06.480 experience.
00:55:07.440 >> Andy, I think you had a question.
00:55:08.319 >> Yeah, Pam, are we allowed under
00:55:09.839 Obamacare? I don't know our size. Are we
00:55:11.760 allowed to just cut the employees a
00:55:13.119 check and let them go shop and get
00:55:14.400 insurance where they want to?
00:55:16.160 >> Yes, that's actually becoming more
00:55:17.520 common for employers to do. Yes. Yes,
00:55:20.319 there is that option. So, to me, that
00:55:22.640 seems like a really good option because
00:55:24.640 like I'm looking at some of this right
00:55:26.079 now, not to get too personal, but some
00:55:28.800 like an 88 $89 increase if we do
00:55:32.480 nothing,
00:55:33.040 >> right?
00:55:33.920 >> 2,74 if we go with 85, 28.65 if we go
00:55:38.000 with 83, and then 80, it's 4,000 bucks.
00:55:40.480 >> Yes.
00:55:41.599 >> That really impacts families.
00:55:44.240 And not every family needs this
00:55:46.160 coverage,
00:55:47.359 >> right?
00:55:47.680 >> And not every individual needs this
00:55:49.520 coverage. I I kind of it's no one's
00:55:52.319 fault. I should have probably brought it
00:55:53.280 up earlier, but I wish we would have
00:55:54.400 started that discussion of can we just
00:55:55.760 cut a check to them and let them go buy
00:55:57.200 their own.
00:56:00.000 >> It [clears throat] is again like I said
00:56:01.599 between fully insured and self-insured,
00:56:03.119 it's that's another option. The only
00:56:05.040 thing I've experienced um
00:56:07.040 >> actually last year when I was in private
00:56:08.319 industry um as an HR manager and going
00:56:11.520 through that, we seriously looked at
00:56:13.200 that and my employees were like, "Oh my
00:56:15.440 gosh." I mean, I see everybody looking
00:56:16.720 at this today and trying to understand
00:56:18.799 it. if every single employee had to do
00:56:21.040 that and they're like, I don't know
00:56:22.000 where to start. I don't know where to
00:56:23.119 go. This is too complicated. I don't
00:56:24.559 understand it. Take care of it for me.
00:56:26.559 So, you know, you weigh those that is an
00:56:29.839 option, but there's a lot of people that
00:56:31.839 just are like, I don't know where to
00:56:33.599 start. I don't understand it. It's
00:56:34.799 overwhelming. So,
00:56:35.599 >> may I comment
00:56:37.200 >> real quick over here? Sure. Go ahead.
00:56:38.960 >> Yeah. A couple of meetings that I was at
00:56:40.720 prior to this one here. Um that question
00:56:44.240 did come up and for two we said it was
00:56:46.960 kind of too late to be looking at it for
00:56:48.960 next year but for 20 look at it in 27
00:56:52.079 for 28 to look at what the different
00:56:54.319 options are of whether it's selfinsured
00:56:56.400 or as you just said uh supervisor parish
00:57:00.319 um those things have to be looked at the
00:57:03.040 issue that I seen though if you leave
00:57:04.799 ETF
00:57:06.880 you can't get back in correct that is
00:57:09.440 correct there's a Yep there's a limit
00:57:11.599 The other thing you have to buy back in
00:57:13.359 as well. So it would be a cost to the
00:57:15.440 county to get back in as well.
00:57:17.839 >> So all that's got to be taken into
00:57:19.440 consideration also with what happens out
00:57:21.760 at the Tumbl County Healthc Care Center.
00:57:24.000 Are they set up differently? They I mean
00:57:26.880 if if we change, do they change? I mean
00:57:29.119 there's a lot that's got to be looked at
00:57:31.520 >> how it affects them as well.
00:57:33.040 >> Yep. Yep. So
00:57:34.000 >> and the highway
00:57:34.720 >> in in ETF size uh the healthc care
00:57:37.839 center, courthouse, highway, we are all
00:57:39.920 one,
00:57:40.480 >> right? Um so whatever change we make
00:57:43.440 here in plan design or exiting ETF the
00:57:46.720 healthcare center would have to do as
00:57:48.240 well.
00:57:48.880 >> Yeah.
00:57:49.280 >> Yeah.
00:57:51.119 >> Yep. The contribution is the only thing
00:57:53.119 that uh we can do differently. So we
00:57:55.520 have to stay in the same plan design
00:57:57.200 meaning we need to stay in our low
00:57:58.880 deductible or we all together switch to
00:58:01.200 the high deductible with ETF but the
00:58:03.839 healthcare center could choose to pay a
00:58:05.440 different premium contribution. um they
00:58:07.680 could still do 88% and we go to 85% for
00:58:11.359 example.
00:58:12.480 >> Can I ask Jerry a question since he's
00:58:14.319 here?
00:58:14.880 >> Sure.
00:58:15.440 >> Jerry, you've been at this a long time,
00:58:18.240 like a long time.
00:58:20.640 >> Almost 40 years,
00:58:21.599 >> right? So, help me understand what's a
00:58:25.200 good balance for employees so that they
00:58:28.220 [clears throat] don't burden shoulder
00:58:30.160 this huge increase, but what's also good
00:58:33.520 for the county?
00:58:34.799 >> Good questions. Um, [clears throat] I'll
00:58:37.119 just kind of go over a few notes just to
00:58:38.880 clarify a few things if you guys don't
00:58:40.559 mind. And I think Lori's got a couple
00:58:42.640 comments, too. Let's, um, don't let me
00:58:46.000 forget that thought. Okay.
00:58:47.119 >> Um, self-funding. Um, what I'm finding
00:58:50.240 out talking with other leading age
00:58:52.400 Wisconsin counties and some long-term
00:58:54.559 care counties that have long-term care
00:58:56.400 facilities, they're actually private
00:58:58.880 industry that they re that they did hire
00:59:01.359 or they did go to are actually having
00:59:03.200 like a 30% increase. Um, and with those,
00:59:07.359 even though the cost came way down,
00:59:09.440 there's the three-year criteria to get
00:59:11.119 back on ETF. There's also once you get
00:59:13.839 on to ETF, you're paying much more
00:59:15.680 higher rates. So, just to clarify that
00:59:18.079 and you guys gave a good explanation
00:59:20.480 clarify um just a couple things about
00:59:22.480 the high deductible when you go from the
00:59:24.480 FSA to the HSA
00:59:26.799 that you know and if the county board
00:59:28.880 opts to you know say do $5,000 of um
00:59:33.520 covering their deductible. The county
00:59:35.440 would have to also de devise a
00:59:37.651 [clears throat] plan and make a plan on
00:59:39.920 not I wouldn't recommend putting that on
00:59:41.839 a card up front. you would need to do
00:59:43.599 like monthly or quarterly installments
00:59:45.440 because once that's loaded that's their
00:59:47.359 money and if someone leaves after three
00:59:49.040 months that's their money. So there's a
00:59:51.440 lot of discussions that have to go into
00:59:53.359 that. Um the incentive plan um I think
00:59:57.520 we talked about that one thing that we
00:59:59.839 wanted to um just state on that is that
01:00:02.799 we've always done the 500 across the
01:00:04.559 board. Um we've never done the thousand.
01:00:06.880 If you guys can do the thousand, I say
01:00:08.480 great. But we did it my predecessors
01:00:12.079 decades ago. It was for the employee
01:00:14.400 themselves and it was equal. It really
01:00:16.880 kept people from from becoming
01:00:19.839 frustrated on hm so I'm single and I
01:00:22.319 have no kids. I only get 500 but they
01:00:24.319 get a thousand which I'm a big family
01:00:26.319 promoter and you know and they're part
01:00:28.559 of the employee and part of the family.
01:00:30.720 I think it's great if you can do it, but
01:00:33.280 reality is this is part of a slight
01:00:37.680 transition that the county, you know, um
01:00:40.240 could save almost 65,000 going that
01:00:43.280 route.
01:00:44.960 Um
01:00:50.000 healthy healthy cushion.
01:00:53.280 So [clears throat] it's really difficult
01:00:55.599 with the courthouse funding and with the
01:00:57.760 healthcare funding. Again, you know, the
01:01:00.000 enterprise financially is what we
01:01:02.880 function at. We're still we're under the
01:01:04.480 county umbrella. We're all one, but it
01:01:07.760 gets really difficult, especially when
01:01:09.599 we have employees working in both places
01:01:11.440 or spouses and so forth, like, well,
01:01:13.119 they did this, we did, we did this. We
01:01:15.599 try to do things as equally equally as
01:01:18.160 we can. You know, our percentage
01:01:20.160 contribution, we we adjust up and down
01:01:23.520 whether it's 83, 85, 87. But what we do
01:01:27.760 differently is we'll give a little bit
01:01:29.839 more contribution towards wages, which I
01:01:32.480 really think the county board with with
01:01:34.640 a with a um lucrative approximately 6
01:01:38.319 million or something, this may be the
01:01:40.400 year to look at greater than a 2%. I did
01:01:43.520 the numbers. I don't think the county
01:01:45.040 board would um um in order to make this
01:01:47.760 cost effective. I don't know if they'd
01:01:49.760 want to take that much hit out of their
01:01:52.079 um general operations, but it might be
01:01:55.040 something to consider. So what we do is
01:01:58.079 because the culture is changing, you
01:02:00.319 know, I am a 39 and a half year
01:02:03.119 Wisconsin um systems ETF employee.
01:02:08.640 You know, many people when I started
01:02:10.480 even with the state benefits, benefits,
01:02:12.960 benefits. People understand it's lower
01:02:15.440 wages. They're looking at that
01:02:17.200 retirement. They're looking at those
01:02:18.559 wages. They're looking at those those
01:02:20.400 benefits. It's what they do. I still
01:02:23.040 have a good portion of people that are
01:02:24.480 trying to get into county level and
01:02:26.079 state level just for the benefits
01:02:27.599 themselves because they do see that at
01:02:29.920 the end. Especially when we hire
01:02:32.720 housekeepers or CNAs that are making
01:02:35.760 just as much or more when they retire.
01:02:38.640 It's it's pretty a pretty good
01:02:40.559 incentive.
01:02:42.079 Now, how we balance that and it it's
01:02:44.400 really tricky because
01:02:49.119 yeah, our funding is so different and
01:02:51.680 this year we were fortunate for one
01:02:53.680 year. You know, we don't know how the
01:02:56.000 funding is going to go forward with a
01:02:57.520 different governor, but we had some
01:03:00.079 Medicaid rate increases that were very
01:03:02.960 it's the highest they've been in
01:03:04.480 decades. We're we're very blessed for
01:03:07.520 that and we're going to be able to do a
01:03:10.079 higher contribution towards a cost of
01:03:11.920 living. That's going to help balance
01:03:14.240 this out, you know, plus it's going to
01:03:17.280 help retain that younger population that
01:03:21.599 um they're looking for money in their
01:03:23.039 gas tank versus the benefits because
01:03:25.839 that is switching. Not everyone is
01:03:27.599 coming, even here, not everyone's coming
01:03:29.680 for the benefits anymore like they used
01:03:31.200 to. Finding that balance is going to be
01:03:33.520 tough. So what we've done is we've taken
01:03:37.280 our lowest three four paid positions and
01:03:42.480 then we build off that so we can try to
01:03:45.440 make it cost effective so they can still
01:03:47.920 either break even or have a very small
01:03:51.119 amount of their check. We just didn't
01:03:52.799 want them to go backwards. Now that's
01:03:54.960 one year. We all know [clears throat] at
01:03:56.640 the end of the year it's going to be
01:03:57.680 like a bidding war again. It's going to,
01:03:59.520 you know, we've seen it, you know, from
01:04:01.200 north and south for many times where,
01:04:04.880 you know, the Mayo and, you know, and
01:04:07.920 the Gunderson plans are now amplify
01:04:10.000 plans. All of a sudden, it's like, oh,
01:04:11.760 everyone's going back to Mayo. Oh,
01:04:13.039 everyone's going this. Oh, they're going
01:04:14.319 up 23%. We can do better that than that.
01:04:17.440 And now there's a new hospital coming,
01:04:19.440 you know, into play in Oaklair and
01:04:20.960 stuff. So, I would only assume, I'm very
01:04:22.559 optimistic that these are going to
01:04:23.920 change for 2028.
01:04:26.559 I try to remain positive. Um finding the
01:04:30.160 balance. Um I you know I really feel
01:04:33.599 that um
01:04:36.160 looking at the cost of living is going
01:04:39.359 to help off soften this for the
01:04:42.160 employees. If you're looking at I think
01:04:44.400 a percent that Rebecca you might have
01:04:46.960 figured out every percent is
01:04:48.799 approximately $75,000.
01:04:51.440 So whether you go with a 2% 3% 4% and um
01:04:57.280 it's it's only going to maybe affect
01:04:59.920 that cash availability but can you
01:05:02.559 sustain that for one year and then
01:05:05.680 critically look at all of the wanted
01:05:07.760 positions you know I kind of consider
01:05:09.839 the wants over here then we have the
01:05:11.920 needed positions and then we have the
01:05:13.760 critical or prioritized positions and
01:05:16.160 just really look at that hard this year
01:05:18.255 [clears throat] but for retention
01:05:20.480 employee morale Well, um it's very
01:05:22.880 important to um I think there's a way to
01:05:25.200 balance that. I think it's going to be
01:05:27.280 tricky, but I really feel as a county
01:05:29.920 board because I truly believe that your
01:05:31.599 hearts are in it for the employees, but
01:05:33.760 also with TMA County being remaining
01:05:36.319 financially viable, you know, I really
01:05:38.720 think the board can come to a happy
01:05:40.799 medium.
01:05:41.599 >> Now, as a followup, and maybe it's for
01:05:43.200 Lori, I'm not sure, but
01:05:45.119 >> um
01:05:45.520 >> come on up, Lord.
01:05:46.400 >> Can we tar premiums based on wages? I
01:05:50.160 mean, God strike me dead for bringing up
01:05:51.760 socialism, right? But I'm saying in this
01:05:53.680 particular year, could we the well the
01:05:56.640 people who are making higher wages
01:05:58.319 perhaps have a higher premium to help
01:06:00.640 offset some of that lower
01:06:03.839 >> wage. Yeah. That would be
01:06:06.720 discriminatory.
01:06:08.079 >> Yeah. And and part of the reason why and
01:06:10.319 yes I feel again I'm not an HR
01:06:12.720 professional but I work in HR a lot
01:06:14.640 throughout the years too is I I see the
01:06:17.039 discriminary the discrimination aspect
01:06:19.599 of it kind of like we looked at it even
01:06:22.000 with the um with the contribution for
01:06:24.960 the flex for the 500 1000 I know years
01:06:28.559 ago there was commentary made like I
01:06:31.039 discussed earlier it's like well that
01:06:32.480 500 is for the employee
01:06:35.440 you know um so that's an incentive for
01:06:37.599 that employee boy cuz [clears throat]
01:06:38.880 there was some concerns about why are
01:06:40.799 they getting more than me. So with you
01:06:43.599 know equality and all that kind of stuff
01:06:45.440 you know we just really tried making
01:06:47.760 things neutral across I know there's
01:06:50.960 different times that you know you can
01:06:53.680 look at departments you know uh pay for
01:06:56.480 performance um you can look at um anyone
01:07:01.359 greater than 50,000 gets this and anyone
01:07:04.160 under gets an extra percent. It's really
01:07:06.720 high to it's really hard to um come up
01:07:10.799 with those numbers because no matter
01:07:12.960 what everyone has to understand I always
01:07:15.520 used to say there's 10% but there's it's
01:07:17.680 more like 15% of employees aren't going
01:07:19.839 to be happy with no no matter what you
01:07:22.160 do but they all need to understand that
01:07:24.960 in reality this has all changed from
01:07:27.920 even five years ago I mean I remember
01:07:30.160 when it was $10 a month you know and the
01:07:33.680 states you know my contacts with the
01:07:35.440 state and other counties are all in the
01:07:36.960 same you know the same um arena that
01:07:40.400 we're all in. They are looking at the
01:07:42.880 same amount of percentages because you
01:07:44.640 have to go from the 50% to 88%.
01:07:47.599 But they are strongly looking at what is
01:07:49.839 your funding source again municipality
01:07:53.280 healthcare and what can you contribute
01:07:56.160 to take on for the employees to soften
01:07:59.119 that and help with retention help with
01:08:02.079 morale and um boost everything that's
01:08:05.680 you know try and boost the organization
01:08:07.599 itself. Does that I know I kind of
01:08:09.680 rambled but
01:08:10.640 >> No, it was I just [clears throat] wanted
01:08:12.000 to get all the options out there and and
01:08:14.480 see if that was one because my
01:08:16.560 >> two employers ago that's the way they
01:08:18.080 did it. I didn't like it cuz I was on
01:08:19.839 the end that paid more.
01:08:21.359 >> Um so I understand that. I was just
01:08:23.040 looking for all options for people to
01:08:25.359 discuss.
01:08:25.920 >> I really think going into 2028, you
01:08:28.239 know, there's some options that we can
01:08:29.520 look at. Um, I think if if we're looking
01:08:32.400 at something with even looking at the
01:08:34.319 high deductible, I really think the
01:08:35.759 county board, you know, really needs and
01:08:38.000 then, you know, we as with our board at
01:08:39.920 the healthcare center would need to look
01:08:41.359 at what would be reasonable for
01:08:44.239 contributions. Now, does if it's seven,
01:08:46.560 yeah, 7,000, I believe, for a family
01:08:49.120 plan, should the employer contribute all
01:08:51.440 7,000? Well, we have to be realistic
01:08:54.719 here,
01:08:55.679 >> you know, because when you look at other
01:08:57.920 comparables, even some of the cities and
01:09:00.159 so forth, they're contributing some, but
01:09:02.400 not the full amount. But that's part of
01:09:04.239 reality and and common sense, I would
01:09:06.880 say. [clears throat]
01:09:09.920 >> Go ahead, John.
01:09:10.640 >> I I just have one comment. You know,
01:09:12.319 it's been mentioned before that, you
01:09:14.319 know, the what do you call it? FSA, the
01:09:16.000 aid we give the 500 and a thousand. To
01:09:18.960 me, employee is an employee. Whether
01:09:20.719 they're married or not shouldn't make
01:09:22.000 any dang difference that 500 is 500.
01:09:25.759 That and
01:09:26.799 >> that's what our forefathers did. So,
01:09:28.560 that was done way before me and
01:09:30.799 >> they're still just an employee and
01:09:32.799 they're no more valuable than a single
01:09:34.560 employee whether they're married or not
01:09:36.640 >> or less. Yeah. And that's why we look at
01:09:39.040 the employees whether you make a h
01:09:40.640 100,000 or you make you know 40,000 you
01:09:44.000 know they're all valuable in their
01:09:45.199 position no matter what [snorts] you
01:09:47.359 know class that they're in.
01:09:48.799 >> Right.
01:09:51.199 >> Absolutely.
01:09:51.920 >> Since we're talking about um [snorts]
01:09:54.960 looking at uh raising or or going with a
01:09:58.159 a higher deductible $7,000 deductible.
01:10:02.159 Um I guess
01:10:04.480 that causes me some concern. Um, I think
01:10:07.520 there's a lot of younger people probably
01:10:09.760 won't reach that and they may feel like
01:10:12.640 I'm paying for insurance for nothing.
01:10:15.120 So, I think we need to look at our
01:10:16.800 population um of employees
01:10:20.239 and I don't know if we want to survey
01:10:22.719 them. That might be too much. But, um, I
01:10:25.679 actually think we might be discount it
01:10:27.920 might appear that we're discounting them
01:10:30.719 if we were to go in that direction that
01:10:33.360 they aren't they aren't getting anything
01:10:34.880 out of it.
01:10:37.120 You're you're 100% right. Some of the
01:10:39.199 other things that our team looked
01:10:41.828 [clears throat] at is again we you know
01:10:43.360 there would have had to been a
01:10:44.320 resolution that would have needed to
01:10:46.159 pass before the full county board by
01:10:48.239 >> October 1st.
01:10:48.880 >> October 1st. Um time frames very limited
01:10:52.320 for that
01:10:54.080 going to a high deductible. Exactly. A
01:10:57.280 lot of people just can't afford that.
01:10:59.520 When you look at um Shelley made a good
01:11:02.560 comment about the pharmacy. So,
01:11:04.099 [clears throat] let's say an individual
01:11:05.199 goes to get their prescription filled
01:11:07.120 and as we know, medications can be
01:11:09.760 anywhere between $500 to $2,500 a month.
01:11:13.600 They have to come, you know, they have
01:11:15.760 to get that out of their pockets right
01:11:17.360 away because [clears throat]
01:11:20.560 the funds aren't uploaded right away.
01:11:22.560 And again, they have to pay for it, then
01:11:24.159 they have to submit, then they get their
01:11:26.000 money. So there's and plus all the
01:11:27.840 claiming processes go directly onto the
01:11:30.320 employee which would be um quite
01:11:34.400 stressful for many employees. So it'd be
01:11:36.480 just too much of a rush um to even
01:11:40.000 consider that. And I know that even in
01:11:42.320 the employ you know some of the
01:11:43.280 employees out there it's like oh my gosh
01:11:45.280 are we going to that? I'm like let's
01:11:47.440 just take a deep breath. We're not going
01:11:49.360 to you know um rush anything. We're
01:11:52.400 going to be method. Did did you run the
01:11:55.040 numbers on the high deductible plan and
01:11:58.000 what the savings would be?
01:11:59.600 >> Mhm.
01:12:02.320 >> Because if the savings are significant,
01:12:04.719 couldn't we take some of those savings
01:12:06.400 and and offset the the the premium or
01:12:10.400 the deductibles?
01:12:11.600 >> Yeah, we did look at all those numbers.
01:12:13.600 Um while the low deductible plan had a
01:12:16.640 23% increase, the high deductible plan
01:12:19.040 also had an 8% increase. and we looked
01:12:22.000 at um
01:12:24.800 the difference in the premiums. So even
01:12:26.880 if we switched to high deductible,
01:12:28.000 employees would still take an increase
01:12:29.600 and be getting the huge deductibles. But
01:12:31.679 we also did the calculation of the
01:12:33.679 difference in premium between the two.
01:12:35.360 And if you multiply that out, so a
01:12:38.080 single person and I don't know the
01:12:39.760 numbers off the top of my head, but um
01:12:41.600 and I didn't bring all the high
01:12:42.560 deductible with me because it was low
01:12:44.239 deductible [clears throat] was the
01:12:44.880 recommendation from the other committee,
01:12:46.080 but we basically looked at what you
01:12:48.159 would save in premiums is the amount
01:12:50.159 that the employees are taking an extra
01:12:51.760 deductible. So if you if you step back
01:12:54.880 and you look and you don't look who's
01:12:56.880 paying which piece, if you just look in
01:12:58.800 total, basically what happens is what
01:13:00.640 you save in premiums, you're pushing
01:13:02.480 that all to the employees. There isn't
01:13:04.159 there isn't savings where you're saving
01:13:07.120 more in premiums than what you're taking
01:13:08.880 on an extra deductible
01:13:11.360 if that makes
01:13:12.719 >> and I think the broader thing was is
01:13:14.960 that we don't find out until so close to
01:13:18.159 the end here what the costs are going to
01:13:20.000 be and such and that to Jerry's point it
01:13:22.719 was just going to be very stressful on
01:13:24.880 trying to [cough] just [clears throat]
01:13:26.400 change it real quick with employees
01:13:28.159 without having good conversation
01:13:30.400 >> I'm thinking more for options for next
01:13:33.040 year Yeah.
01:13:34.719 >> My concerns still remain with the
01:13:36.880 families that work here that, you know,
01:13:38.719 who who can pick up an extra two grand
01:13:40.400 right now? I can't. You know, it is 88%.
01:13:44.480 That's really good, not going to lie.
01:13:47.520 But that's what we promised them when
01:13:48.800 they were hired.
01:13:50.640 And and now now we're now we're changing
01:13:53.199 that a little bit. And that's a concern
01:13:54.960 to me because now they've got to go
01:13:56.560 change things. When we gave them our
01:13:57.920 word, here's what we're going to
01:13:59.360 contribute.
01:14:00.960 I mean, I'm all for cutting money. I'm
01:14:03.440 just concerned about what's going to
01:14:04.960 happen to them when we already made them
01:14:06.719 a promise. And can we keep it going this
01:14:09.679 year and spend the whole year somehow
01:14:12.800 coming up with a new plan to fix this
01:14:15.679 problem?
01:14:17.120 >> Go ahead, Richard.
01:14:18.880 Um
01:14:20.719 just a little history from my memory,
01:14:25.199 but
01:14:26.880 two years ago
01:14:29.040 we went up something right around 13%
01:14:31.920 with the healthc care premiums. Last
01:14:34.480 year we were up at least 8%.
01:14:37.679 >> Now we've got the jump this year.
01:14:40.480 >> We can't do that. And it's
01:14:43.920 it's not sustainable
01:14:47.440 unfortunately for any company. I don't
01:14:50.800 care what when someone was hired or what
01:14:54.000 they've done. That's always a dynamic
01:14:56.560 part of the job, right? It it flexes and
01:15:00.400 it's probably never going to ever be
01:15:03.520 down. My hope last year after three
01:15:06.560 consecutive years of large jumps that
01:15:09.120 this year they might sit back a little
01:15:11.040 bit. It wouldn't be so bad and it was
01:15:13.679 way worse. It's almost as if well they
01:15:15.600 took this let's let's increase it some
01:15:18.239 more because of course their costs have
01:15:19.840 gone up too. Um but yes, I think it's
01:15:24.320 important to look at this and have a
01:15:27.520 plan for next year. Um to to the point
01:15:33.120 that Andy had about going to Obamacare,
01:15:37.760 if you make more than $44,000 a year and
01:15:41.600 they give you credits,
01:15:45.120 this is how much you will pay.
01:15:48.000 $855
01:15:49.600 a month for that. You will get $15 a
01:15:54.239 month for generic drugs. And they're
01:15:56.880 tiered, right? So they go up from there.
01:16:00.239 $10,000
01:16:01.760 deductible per person
01:16:05.360 and your max out of pocket annually is
01:16:08.239 18 grand.
01:16:09.760 >> So that doesn't help any of our
01:16:12.159 employees to go that route.
01:16:14.480 >> I'm not doing that. Yeah.
01:16:16.640 >> The other thing I'll say is if I was
01:16:19.120 just doing some calculations, but at if
01:16:22.960 if you earn $60,000
01:16:26.000 a year
01:16:28.480 and you're given a 3% wage increase and
01:16:33.679 your plan has you have to incorporate
01:16:37.840 another 2,000 a month, but you've only
01:16:40.560 been given 1,800 from your job. your
01:16:43.600 plan really is costing you an additional
01:16:45.760 $200 a year.
01:16:48.480 >> Not.
01:16:50.960 >> So, I I think if you've got single
01:16:54.480 coverage, it's probably not as big of a
01:16:57.120 hit for a family. Yes, it is a little
01:16:59.440 bit bigger hit. And I think it also
01:17:01.520 depends on what we're giving for a wage
01:17:04.400 increase and
01:17:06.960 how many people you have in your family.
01:17:10.248 >> [cough and clears throat]
01:17:10.320 >> So
01:17:12.000 if I could comment to piggyback off go
01:17:14.239 ahead
01:17:14.480 >> that a little bit is also to keep in
01:17:16.560 mind in that [clears throat] whole
01:17:17.920 equation
01:17:21.199 the insurance premium went up
01:17:23.280 considerably and the county is footing
01:17:26.719 the majority of that increase
01:17:28.960 >> and that does have value. I it's it's a
01:17:31.760 sad thing that it went up and it's not
01:17:33.440 just Tumble County, it's nationally
01:17:35.679 probably. So, um, it's a value. It's a
01:17:38.800 value to our employees that we are
01:17:40.400 providing this excellent insurance and
01:17:42.080 we're still paying the bulk of the
01:17:44.719 premium.
01:17:47.360 >> Go ahead. Go ahead.
01:17:49.040 >> This will probably not come across very
01:17:50.960 positively. [laughter]
01:17:52.719 Just going to preface it with that.
01:17:56.640 I'm struggling a little bit um with the
01:18:00.640 idea that we do offer such a great
01:18:03.520 insurance plan
01:18:06.400 >> when
01:18:08.159 you would be hardressed to go any
01:18:10.000 employee here would be hardressed
01:18:11.164 [clears throat] to go anywhere else
01:18:12.880 >> to find any kind of insurance that even
01:18:15.280 comes close.
01:18:17.199 I understand that our employees are
01:18:19.120 valuable and I and I hate the idea that
01:18:21.360 we even have to think about making
01:18:23.280 changes to what they receive because
01:18:26.159 nobody wants that to happen. But I also
01:18:30.000 have a responsibility to the taxpayers
01:18:33.360 and I don't see how our taxpayers can be
01:18:36.000 expected to fund benefits that are
01:18:38.560 better than they receive on the private
01:18:40.800 in the in the um
01:18:43.679 >> private sector
01:18:44.560 >> and what they're paying for. I I just
01:18:46.400 I'm so I just can't see that we have
01:18:49.920 money in in our reserves, but I'll bet
01:18:53.360 you money that we have other needs,
01:18:56.400 right? I I'm I just feel ethically like
01:19:00.480 that's not the appropriate thing to do.
01:19:06.400 Just throwing that out there.
01:19:10.114 >> [snorts]
01:19:13.760 >> I just want to make a comment.
01:19:16.010 [clears throat] Mr. Paris should mention
01:19:17.760 earlier about the lower uh scaled p
01:19:21.360 employee how it's going to affect them
01:19:23.760 more than than the higher. Maybe it's
01:19:27.440 this is the year we should be looking at
01:19:29.280 instead of 2% 3% 4% of given uh figuring
01:19:33.679 out what the average wage is and based
01:19:36.480 off of that give each employee x amount
01:19:40.239 all across the board. We used to do that
01:19:42.480 few years ago um because otherwise the
01:19:46.880 low and the high kept separating every
01:19:49.040 year. So at every four years, five
01:19:51.199 years, whatever it was, they used to
01:19:53.280 say, "Okay, this year we're going to
01:19:55.280 give 75 cents across the board." So
01:19:57.199 maybe that's what we should be looking
01:19:58.640 at.
01:20:00.719 >> And then I got to jump in from the HR
01:20:02.800 piece because Rich, you and I have
01:20:04.400 talked about this before, but it's a
01:20:07.040 nightmare on our end and from payroll
01:20:10.239 standpoint to try to keep track. And
01:20:12.159 that's why the this wage study is really
01:20:14.239 important right now as well. We've got
01:20:16.560 all these different wage scales out
01:20:19.199 there right now where we had been on one
01:20:21.679 and it's it's been split off because of
01:20:24.239 these issues. It really makes it very
01:20:27.600 difficult on the end of tracking
01:20:30.800 everything and payment. And Shelley's
01:20:33.199 shaking her head. Yes. Yes. Um, so that
01:20:37.199 that really we have a wage scale in
01:20:39.600 place and then it really messes that all
01:20:42.239 up and it it's really difficult when you
01:20:44.640 get off from that.
01:20:47.440 >> But let's just take a dollar dollar an
01:20:50.000 hour increase across the board. That
01:20:51.760 would to me that would be awful a lot
01:20:53.760 simpler than trying to adjust
01:20:56.239 everybody's wage at three or 4%.
01:21:01.199 If I could comment here. Um, please.
01:21:05.040 Years ago, Rich, we had we had that it
01:21:08.719 would happen like every other year or
01:21:10.400 whatever. The pay scales were set up by
01:21:13.679 dollar at that time. They were not set
01:21:15.600 up at percentage of your income for
01:21:18.880 steps. Right now, everything is set up
01:21:21.520 on a percentage.
01:21:23.440 It's not just the steps going across.
01:21:25.760 probably it's the steps going
01:21:28.320 >> up and down the grades. the grades. You
01:21:30.640 got grades, grade 1, two, three,
01:21:32.260 [clears throat] four, five, then you got
01:21:33.600 steps within. And I understand it's a
01:21:35.520 red tape thing,
01:21:37.120 >> but I I think it's it's a bigger bigger
01:21:40.159 conversation, I think, than we can
01:21:42.000 handle going into 2027.
01:21:45.679 Um because it's going to take a lot of
01:21:49.520 uh calculating, processing,
01:21:52.960 and the wage scale people too. I mean
01:21:55.520 maybe they
01:21:56.159 >> right maybe they could weigh in on that
01:21:57.920 and give us some direction. I think you
01:22:00.000 know I did talk with them about that. Um
01:22:02.320 I think that'd be
01:22:03.040 >> I'm just saying it's something to look
01:22:04.239 at.
01:22:04.639 >> Yeah. Yeah.
01:22:06.639 I understand what you're saying.
01:22:08.159 >> Go ahead Paul just just fast too that um
01:22:11.600 that percentage and the cents is what it
01:22:14.320 was called each every other year was
01:22:16.880 before we had the step system.
01:22:19.280 >> You know that was that was one thing.
01:22:20.800 But my my other question is
01:22:24.639 in all this calculation are we still I'm
01:22:28.080 going to use the word I shouldn't really
01:22:29.520 use it but are we still subsidizing the
01:22:32.880 deductible for the employee in your
01:22:35.360 calculations
01:22:36.000 >> in the calculation it is subsidized at
01:22:38.800 5500.
01:22:40.639 >> Yeah. So that's a savings of the 64,000.
01:22:44.639 Yep. Yep. But there is a subsidy yet.
01:22:47.040 Yes.
01:22:50.719 That's fair.
01:22:52.639 >> So that said, I know there's been a lot
01:22:54.400 of discussion here and there's a a
01:22:57.120 recommendation on on when it comes to
01:23:00.719 from the prior meetings that we've had.
01:23:04.560 Can I go ahead,
01:23:06.159 >> Mr. Chair?
01:23:06.880 >> Yes. Um, I would like to move
01:23:11.360 by looking at orders of the day
01:23:13.760 >> that we said that we'd uh the
01:23:16.000 recommendation as presented
01:23:19.120 to approve the low deductible health
01:23:20.960 plan for 227
01:23:23.120 with an 85%
01:23:25.199 county contribution.
01:23:27.120 Fund the projected additional 680,276
01:23:32.000 county costs with county surplus. set
01:23:35.199 the employer funded FSA contribution at
01:23:38.639 500 for both single and family coverage
01:23:41.360 and begin evaluating alternatives for 28
01:23:43.920 and consider the proposed 200 um add in
01:23:47.920 the 200 monthly opt- out payment after
01:23:51.040 current non-participation eligibilities
01:23:53.199 are quantified and its fisal impact is
01:23:56.000 confirmed. So, what I would like to move
01:23:57.920 the recommendation presented by the
01:24:00.080 administrator as far as for our health
01:24:02.719 insurance for next year so we can plan
01:24:05.199 our budget.
01:24:06.080 >> I second that motion.
01:24:07.760 >> All right, we got a first and a second.
01:24:09.520 Is there any more discussion?
01:24:12.960 >> I'd like to consider an amendment to
01:24:17.199 u eliminate the FSA contribution.
01:24:23.600 >> And I would second that.
01:24:24.960 >> Yeah.
01:24:26.560 All right, we got a first from scout.
01:24:29.199 >> Motion for amendment.
01:24:30.639 >> What's that?
01:24:33.920 >> Do a motion for amendment.
01:24:35.520 >> Yes, he made a motion for amendment.
01:24:37.360 >> Yes.
01:24:37.920 >> And then we got a second from Don. Yes.
01:24:42.400 >> Any discussion on that?
01:24:44.880 The the reason I made the motion is is
01:24:48.000 that it just strikes me that to Dawn's
01:24:51.520 point earlier,
01:24:53.840 our taxpayers are paying a deductible
01:24:56.960 and essentially the FSA contribution
01:24:59.520 wipes that deductible out and I I just
01:25:02.960 feel it's
01:25:04.880 a responsibility that we can ask the
01:25:08.000 employees to pick up.
01:25:10.080 >> Mr. Chair,
01:25:11.920 >> yeah, I I think he was first. Sorry.
01:25:14.000 Sorry. Go ahead.
01:25:15.280 >> Yeah. Just a quick question. This um
01:25:18.080 will affect highway and courthouse, not
01:25:22.159 union. Correct.
01:25:23.920 >> It a the deductible does affect the
01:25:27.120 union. This is not a part of their
01:25:29.360 bargaining.
01:25:29.840 >> It's not part of their bargaining.
01:25:31.040 >> Correct.
01:25:31.440 >> All right.
01:25:33.120 >> Okay. Go ahead. There are um some
01:25:36.639 healthc care studies out there as well
01:25:40.000 that show that the increased cost in
01:25:43.520 insurance and lower FSA contributions,
01:25:48.239 deductibles, things like that
01:25:51.120 actually people have a better control
01:25:54.400 over their health care and do take
01:25:56.719 better care of themselves.
01:25:59.520 So,
01:26:02.159 >> okay.
01:26:03.600 >> Any other questions or discussion on
01:26:05.520 that motion? Go ahead, Paul.
01:26:06.639 >> I I come back to the deductible of thing
01:26:08.560 again. Are you subsidizing? Is the
01:26:10.880 healthc care center subsidizing that
01:26:12.800 deductible right now? The thousand or
01:26:14.800 the 500 and 500?
01:26:16.400 >> Yes, we subsidize, but it's not tax
01:26:18.639 levy. It's part of our um internal
01:26:22.159 funding, our um part of our our wage
01:26:26.400 analysis because of the Medicaid funding
01:26:28.480 and so forth. We actually have funds
01:26:30.080 that come from the funds [clears throat]
01:26:31.679 come like for for service employees for
01:26:34.080 professional employees and if we don't
01:26:37.040 contribute certain amounts there's pots
01:26:39.440 of money that we actually leave sitting
01:26:41.040 on the floor
01:26:42.960 you know that we don't receive.
01:26:47.040 >> Can I go further on that then? If if we
01:26:49.440 do that
01:26:51.199 I'm thinking we're going to have to look
01:26:52.639 at even a more increase in wage
01:26:56.960 to
01:26:58.960 help the employee cover that since
01:27:00.960 they're going to be paying it instead of
01:27:02.480 the county. So, I'm thinking that's
01:27:04.800 going to have to be incorporated into a
01:27:06.480 wage increase.
01:27:08.800 >> Go ahead, Mr. Chair.
01:27:10.159 >> Mr. Wayland.
01:27:11.040 >> Um, I understand as far as we are
01:27:13.840 increasing expenses for employees. As
01:27:16.800 far as the philosophy behind it that we
01:27:19.120 don't subsidize specific,
01:27:21.370 [clears throat] I think we're given a
01:27:22.560 double whammy when we increase the
01:27:25.760 amount they have to have for health
01:27:27.040 insurance and then eliminate the uh
01:27:30.960 $500.
01:27:32.560 Um the trauma of of the loss of expense,
01:27:37.120 you know, you're doing two it right now.
01:27:39.199 I understand the philosophy and I
01:27:40.719 support this philosophy that we're not
01:27:42.320 subsidizing, but if you do them both in
01:27:44.719 the same year, that's a double hit.
01:27:46.960 >> To to support what Mr. Whan said, I'm
01:27:50.960 looking here at an 85% for a family
01:27:53.600 right now. We're looking at an increase
01:27:56.719 at 85% of $2,74.80
01:28:00.080 plus a,000 bucks.
01:28:02.880 >> So, we're looking at hitting them with a
01:28:04.480 $3,000 increase overnight.
01:28:08.639 and I can't support that. I'm I'm gonna
01:28:11.600 support I'm gonna oppose the amendment.
01:28:15.081 [clears throat]
01:28:16.400 >> Any other discussion on this? Any other
01:28:18.320 questions?
01:28:20.880 All right, we're going to do a roll call
01:28:22.639 vote on this one. Um, so that's going to
01:28:24.960 be the roll call is basically you
01:28:26.400 support the amendment of getting rid of
01:28:28.400 is a yes. Getting rid of the uh us uh
01:28:31.520 county paying for the 500500 and no, we
01:28:34.639 don't want to get rid of that. Just to
01:28:36.239 make it clear.
01:28:38.800 Andy Parish,
01:28:40.480 >> no.
01:28:41.760 >> Riker Todd,
01:28:42.880 >> yes.
01:28:44.000 >> Lorie Severson,
01:28:45.120 >> yes.
01:28:46.000 >> Andy Todd,
01:28:50.320 >> no.
01:28:51.920 >> Richard Anderson,
01:28:53.280 >> stand here with caution. I'm on to
01:28:55.920 >> Okay.
01:28:58.000 Scott Leonard,
01:28:58.800 >> I have to abstain as well.
01:29:01.760 >> Paul Severson,
01:29:02.880 >> no.
01:29:04.480 >> Kevin Whan,
01:29:05.760 >> no.
01:29:06.960 John Austin.
01:29:08.080 >> No.
01:29:08.960 >> Don Trou.
01:29:09.920 >> Yes.
01:29:11.120 >> Robert Becker.
01:29:16.800 >> I don't think he's on anymore.
01:29:19.040 >> Renee Lion.
01:29:20.080 >> No.
01:29:21.280 >> John Scog.
01:29:22.560 >> Yes.
01:29:23.840 >> David Larson.
01:29:24.960 >> No.
01:29:25.840 >> Kristen Yusby.
01:29:27.679 >> No.
01:29:28.960 >> Ron Johnson.
01:29:30.000 >> No.
01:29:30.800 >> Bridget Turner.
01:29:31.920 >> No.
01:29:34.000 Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
01:29:40.480 four yes, 10 no, two abstain, and one
01:29:43.679 absent. So there it does not pass. It
01:29:45.920 does not move forward.
01:29:47.600 >> Can I make an amendment?
01:29:49.040 >> Um, yes, you may.
01:29:50.159 >> No. Um, could we split the difference?
01:29:55.040 And since we cut the family and I know
01:29:58.239 that it's the employee, but we cut the
01:30:00.960 families by half, can we cut the
01:30:04.159 individuals to 250?
01:30:06.639 So the deductible will be 250
01:30:08.560 reimbursement for singles and 500 for
01:30:11.360 families.
01:30:12.639 >> So there's amendment. Do I have a second
01:30:14.000 on that?
01:30:14.480 >> I'll second that.
01:30:16.239 >> Uh we got a second over here. Um any
01:30:18.560 discussion?
01:30:20.187 [clears throat] Go ahead, John.
01:30:21.440 >> That goes back to what I said earlier.
01:30:23.040 An employee is an employee whether
01:30:24.719 they're married or not. So I think we
01:30:26.639 get treat all employees the same.
01:30:29.440 >> If we're gonna give 500, we give 500. If
01:30:32.960 you want to give 250, that's fine with
01:30:34.639 me, too. We'll cut her to 250 on both.
01:30:38.320 >> Which I will just say we've not done
01:30:40.400 traditionally here. We've not treated
01:30:42.239 them the same, right? Like we've done
01:30:43.920 the 500 and the thousand.
01:30:45.760 >> So while I'm not necessarily disagreeing
01:30:47.760 with what you're saying, we've not done
01:30:50.000 that. We don't have a precedent set in
01:30:52.000 that regard here at the courthouse where
01:30:54.480 I do know that they do out at the
01:30:56.159 healthcare center. So
01:30:59.040 I guess take that for what it is.
01:31:03.440 >> Any other discussion?
01:31:06.560 >> All right. I I guess I would um John, I
01:31:08.960 tend to agree with you, but I would look
01:31:10.560 at it slightly differently
01:31:11.932 [clears throat and cough] to think of
01:31:13.040 that that employee that
01:31:18.080 is at 500 now. Um they are going to
01:31:21.760 incur more expenses and like like
01:31:24.560 Supervisor Trog said, this has been our
01:31:26.639 precedent that we do this way. Um I
01:31:29.840 don't know what the answer is. I don't
01:31:30.639 even know how I'm going to vote frankly
01:31:31.679 when it comes to me. Um because I do see
01:31:34.159 value in that and saying there are more
01:31:36.560 people so you need more money, there are
01:31:38.880 less people so you need less. I
01:31:40.480 sincerely so please don't call on me
01:31:41.920 first.
01:31:44.028 [laughter]
01:31:45.760 Any other discussion?
01:31:48.960 >> All right. So a yes vote is for um
01:31:51.280 moving that forward when it comes to 250
01:31:53.840 and 500 and the no vote means you're not
01:31:55.920 going to move it forward.
01:31:58.239 >> Lori Severson,
01:32:00.320 >> yes. Andy Todd,
01:32:03.040 >> no.
01:32:04.000 >> Richard Anderson,
01:32:04.960 >> abstain.
01:32:06.239 >> Scott Leonard,
01:32:07.679 >> abstain.
01:32:09.199 >> Paul Severson,
01:32:10.239 >> no.
01:32:11.440 >> Kevin Whan,
01:32:12.800 >> no.
01:32:13.760 >> John Austin,
01:32:14.800 >> no.
01:32:15.760 >> Don Trou,
01:32:16.800 >> yes.
01:32:17.760 >> Robert Becker,
01:32:20.960 Renee Lion,
01:32:23.040 >> no. No. [clears throat]
01:32:25.199 >> John Scout,
01:32:26.239 >> yes.
01:32:27.440 >> David Larson,
01:32:28.880 >> no. Kristen Husby,
01:32:30.880 >> yes.
01:32:31.840 >> Ron Johnson,
01:32:32.880 >> no.
01:32:33.679 >> Bridget Turner,
01:32:34.800 >> yes.
01:32:35.840 >> Andy Parish,
01:32:36.880 >> yes.
01:32:38.080 >> Riker Todd,
01:32:39.040 >> yes.
01:32:40.719 >> Two, three, four, five, six, seven. Two,
01:32:44.560 three, four, five, six, seven to seven.
01:32:48.219 [laughter]
01:32:51.440 >> It fails.
01:32:52.960 >> Okay, so that has failed. Seven to
01:32:55.199 seven.
01:32:57.520 >> All right, we're right. We're back to
01:32:58.719 our original motion. Is there any more
01:33:01.440 discussion on the floor?
01:33:05.040 All right. With no more discussion,
01:33:06.400 we're going to um go with the original
01:33:08.400 emotion. Could we please have a roll
01:33:10.400 call vote? And um yes mean we're going
01:33:12.639 to pass it. Of course, no mean we're
01:33:14.159 going to um have to discuss some more.
01:33:18.639 >> Go back to the drawing board.
01:33:20.000 >> Yes.
01:33:21.199 >> Richard Anderson.
01:33:23.920 >> Where do you start?
01:33:25.199 >> Richard.
01:33:25.600 >> Richard Anderson.
01:33:26.560 >> Rich. Rich.
01:33:28.560 >> Rich.
01:33:31.920 >> Yes.
01:33:33.600 >> Scott Leonard.
01:33:34.560 >> Abstain.
01:33:35.760 >> Paul Severson.
01:33:37.120 >> Yes.
01:33:38.400 >> Kevin Whan.
01:33:40.000 >> Yes.
01:33:40.719 >> John Austin.
01:33:41.679 >> Yes.
01:33:42.239 >> Don Trou.
01:33:43.120 >> No.
01:33:44.080 >> Robert Becker. Sorry.
01:33:46.400 >> Renee Lion.
01:33:47.360 >> Yes.
01:33:48.239 >> John Scog.
01:33:49.360 >> Yes.
01:33:50.239 >> David Larson.
01:33:51.199 >> Yes.
01:33:52.000 >> Kristen Husby.
01:33:53.120 >> Yes.
01:33:53.760 >> Ron Johnson.
01:33:54.719 >> Yes.
01:33:55.679 >> Bridget Turner. Yes.
01:33:57.360 >> Andy Parish.
01:33:58.400 >> No.
01:33:59.600 >> Raker. Todd.
01:34:00.560 >> No.
01:34:01.520 >> Lorie Severson.
01:34:02.719 >> No.
01:34:03.760 >> Andy Todd.
01:34:04.800 >> Yes.
01:34:06.719 >> Two, three, four. One, two, three, four,
01:34:09.679 five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. 11 to
01:34:12.560 four.
01:34:12.960 >> All right. 11 to four. It passes. And
01:34:15.360 now we can move on to getting the rest
01:34:16.960 of our budget completed. And if I have
01:34:19.520 no objection rejection, I'm going to
01:34:23.280 call this meeting adjourned.