SAGUACHE — The Center Post-Dispatch received a response to a Colorado Open Records Act request submitted to Saguache County administration earlier this month, seeking information regarding the dramatic increases in healthcare costs this year.
A closer look at Saguache County’s 2019 budget shows some departments’ costs doubled and almost tripled from 2018 to 2019. County Interim Administrator Wendi Maez responded to the request last Thursday, providing answers to the following questions.
a) The current amount the county pays towards each employee’s insurance premiums, whether this amount is the same for each employee and whether this same amount also is paid for each employee’s dependents listed on the policy:
Response: “Saguache County pays a total $713.44 per eligible employee, this is the same figure paid for all eligible employees. Nothing is paid towards dependents by Saguache County. The cheapest premium an employee can pay is $133.65 per ACA regulations.” (Previous deductibles were in the $400-plus range.)
b) How many employees covered by county insurance are in each department and how many total employees are on Medicare?
Response: We have a total of 65 employees who utilize the insurance benefit, 12 of which are on Medicare. There are Admin/BOCC-2, Land Use-3, Clerk & Recorder-1, Assessor-3, Treasurer-2, Maintenance-O, Coroner-1, Landfill-2, Housing-2, Sheriff/Jail-14, Office of Emergency Management-1, Road and Bridge-13, Social Services-16 and Public Health-1.”
c) Total costs paid in 2018 for those on Medicare per county policy and whether said policy includes payment of the Medicare recipients’ supplemental insurance policies?
Response: “The total cost of Medicare payments varies per employee, prescription plan and the supplemental insurance policies they are enrolled in.”
d) The formula the county uses to determine how health care costs will be paid, distributed, reimbursed and/or adjusted?
Response: “All employees based on eligible health insurance coverage is $713.44 and all are paid the same rate. Medicare eligible employees — see “c” above.”
e) The county’s employer self-insured medical reimbursement plan?
Response: “The county medical reimbursement plan is TASC.”
The county has not yet released the total amount spent on healthcare last year to compare to total estimated costs for this year.
The total in health care costs the county plans to pay for employees in 2019 is $975, 016.65, nearly one-fourth of its annual budget. The budget can be viewed at: https://www.saguachecounty.net/images/docs-downloadable-by-department/admin-downloadable-docs/2018-admin-docs/Adoption_of_Budget_for_the_Fiscal_Year_2019.pdf