Magistrates ask Watts to seek other health insurance options for county employees
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, June 4, 2019 — Nelson Fiscal Court approved another year with Anthem as its employee health insurance provider, but not after a discussion on why the county does not participate with KACo health and liability insurance plans.
According to Magistrate Keith Metcalfe, 113 of Kentucky’s 120 counties use KACo as their health insurance broker. Watts said KACo’s insurance plans for liability and other types are self-insured plans, which means that participating counties may face an assessment on a year when plan expenditures are high.
“Its a mistake to look at KACo,” Watts said.
Metcalfe wanted Watts to get a quote from KACo for employee health insurance, but Watts cautioned against delaying a vote on the insurance plan. The Anthem plan was offered with no increase in premiums this year, he said.
“What is it that 113 counties know that we don’t?” Metcalfe asked. At a recent conference he attended, Metcalfe said people were touting the savings possible through KACo insurance plans.
The county has done business with the same insurance broker for years with good success. Watts said the county was charged a liability insurance assessment by KACo years ago when they were the county’s insurance provider, and Watts cautioned the magistrates that such an assessment is possible if the county were to switch to KACo as its insurance broker.
Sheriff Ramon Pineieroa sought relief on the insurance costs that his deputies face when trying to purchase a family health insurance plan. His deputies’ have to pay more than $600 a month for a family health insurance plan, he said. By comparison, Bardstown Police officers pay less per month for health insurance, but that’s because the City of Bardstown pays a greater share of police officers’ health insurance, Watts said.
Metcalfe and magistrates Gary Coulter and Eric Shelburne all supported getting quotes from KACo just to compare possible insurance savings. After additional discussion, the court agreed to approve the Anthem health insurance plan and to pursue quotes from KACo next year at an earlier time.
DISTRICT 3 PAVING REQUESTS. Magistrate Bernard Ice’s paving request for Fiscal Year 2019-2020 was unanimously approved by the court Tuesday.
Three roads were on Ice’s
- all 7
, 850 feet of Hardin Leslie Road, from US 62 to the end, at a cost of $69,592.77.
- all 3,665 feet of Withrow Creek Road at a cost of $27,877.77.
- an 8,625-foot portion of North Stillwell Road, from the railroad tracks to the end, at a cost of $79,358.98.
All costs are based on a price of $73 per ton of asphalt.
Watts noted that the $176,789 paving total is higher than a magistrate’s usual paving allocation because Ice had paving money left over he carried over to the next fiscal year.
SHERIFF’S CAMP. Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa expressed his thanks to his officers and staff who have contributed donations for the Kentucky Sheriff’s Boys & Girls Ranch in Gilbertsville.
Pineiroa said his office has eight slots for boys and eight slots for girls to attend the camp. Contact the sheriff’s office for more information at (502) 348-1840.
The camp sessions run Sunday through Friday during six weeks in June and July. Three weeks are for girls, three weeks are for boys. The first camping session starts Sunday, June 9, 2019.
In other business, the court:
- accepted the tourist commission budget presented by Mike Mangeot, the director of the Bardstown-Nelson County Tourist Commission.
- approved a contract with Roy Hunter CPA to audit the county’s finances.
- voted to approve the 2018-2019 budget amendment.
- gave final approval to the Fiscal Year 2019-20 county budget.
- accepted the sheriff’s tax settlement.
- accepted the Nelson County Soil Conservation District’s annual budget.
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