 The county has had R.W. Garrett Agency act as a broker on
their behalf to look for the best insurance options.In recent
years many insurance companies have either consolidated or gone out
of the health insurance business. There are now few companies to
choose from, which eliminates some of the shopping for what company
to choose.
This year employees were asked their preference among several
programs that provided various coverage choices and high
deductibles, in the best of which they would need to kick in $50 per
month on the individual plan. As the process was coming to a close,
a couple of employees brought up other companies and programs they
knew about that had not been considered. The committee agreed that
in the future it would look further at what might be available.
Schumacher said the committee is following through on the promise
to look at other options. Through CIRMA, an Illinois government
agency, she and administrative assistant Pam Meagher made
arrangements and met with representatives of Gallagher insurance to
review Logan County’s needs.
The website of the Illinois Association of County Board Members
provides the following description of CIRMA:
(Copy)
The Counties of
Illinois Risk Management Agency (CIRMA) is a protected
self-insurance risk management program that is county owned and
county managed. CIRMA is dedicated to serving Illinois counties and
the people they serve by providing long-term stability in insurance
coverage while controlling these costs.
Arthur J. Gallagher
Risk Management Services, Inc. has been selected as the Program
Manager through a careful process by IACBMC.
--from
http://www.ilcounty.org/news/20-1.html
The committee had previously been in contact with CIRMA when they
were first forming a new pool of county employees for health
insurance. It was determined then to wait and see how that was
working out.
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A new one-year review of claims was received this month. At this
time, because of the high claims that Logan County has had, it is
not certain if Logan County would be considered for the program.
Schumacher was told that it would take 12 to 18 months to
establish a local pool. Gallagher could act as the broker and
consultant for Logan County prior to the establishment of the pool.
"In the course of the conversation, they talked about ways to
manage and cut (health care) costs," Schumacher said. One suggestion
was to contact the health department and see what services they
might provide, such as screenings and blood draws on county
employees. It was noted that they’re "very aggressive in
cost-containment and managing care."
The committee determined to look at this more closely and
included communicating their considerations with the R.W. Garrett
Agency in the process.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
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