Habersham County Commissioners approved a new insurance plan Monday night. Taxpayers will have to pony up $122,780 more to cover county workers in 2016 while employees will face higher deductibles and out of pocket expenses.
The cost to taxpayers for providing 137 “Employee-Only Plans” and 68 “Employee + Family Plans” will jump by 8.5%, from about $1.4 million to more than $1.5 million, for the fiscal year beginning on July 1.
Finance Director Trey Wood says it could have been more, “We went into this expecting a 14-15% increase.” Wood and County Manager Phil Sutton worked with the broker to lower the cost to taxpayers but the compromise will cost employees.
Currently, the county picks up 100% of the premium costs for employees and 60% of premiums for covered family members. In order to maintain that promise, county leaders will switch to a higher-deductible plan in 2016. The deductible for the single employee will go from $3000 to $3500 while the family deductible jumps from $9000 to $10,500. The maximum out-of-pocket expenses increase by $1600 for the individual and $3,200 for families.
All other benefits (Co-Pay, Emergency Room, Prescriptions) remain the same.
Employees who want to keep the current, lower-deductible/lower-maximum, plan can do so but the difference in cost will come out of their paycheck.
| Habersham Employee Insurance | Option A | Option B |
| Deductible (Single/Family)
Coinsurance Max Out of Pocket |
$3000/$9000*
80% $5000/$10,000* |
$3500/$10,500*
80% $6,600/$13,200* |
| Premium Cost Single
Premium Cost Single (Tobacco User) Premium Cost Family Premium Cost Family (Tobacco User) |
$12.65**
$47.92** $169.60** $256.75** |
$0.00**
$35.28** $138.35** $225.51** |
*In-Network **Per Pay Period
Open enrollment for Habersham County insurance benefits begins on May 28.
