Roger Baker, Gilpin County Manager.  The ratification and immediate rescinding of Sheriff Hartman’s imposition of Stage 1 Fire Restrictions may have been the strangest (and least controversial) measure to come before the Gilpin County Commissioners at their meeting Tuesday, but the discussion of the County’s health insurance options was certainly the most extensive—and expensive.

The County’s insurance broker, Bill Cook, and Human Resources Director Susie Allen have always been vigilant in trying to get the best coverage for the County’s employees at a reasonable price, and they certainly have succeeded again this year.

There are actually a number of products offered to the employees, so speaking of “insurance” actually describes a wide range of coverages, from long-term disability to vision and dental insurance.

The dollar increase for all of the proposed renewals—some for 24 months, and one actually for 48—were all very minor (by insurance standards) and one actually resulted in a considerable decrease.

But as always the major component of the insurance picture is the primary health care plan, covering medical services by primary health care physicians, wellness care, emergency services, and the whole gamut of health care options.

For several years now the County has offered that coverage through Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield; the coverage has been fine, and the Commissioners have been reluctant to move toward other providers or plans that would require employees to change doctors or otherwise seriously restructure their health care thinking.

But Anthem is pricey—our plan isn’t anything like the “Cadillac Plans” that are under discussion as part of the Affordable Care Act, but it’s still far and away the biggest County expense other than employee salaries.

To keep exactly the same coverage for 2016 would have bumped the County’s premium up from $1.7 million to $1.866 million—just under a 10% increase.

That kind of cost increase is unsustainable for a County continuing to struggle with the lingering effects of the recession, particularly as they affect gaming revenues.

So Bill and Susie were charged with taking the preliminary steps toward moving the County toward a partially self-funded plan that would—in exchange for the County undertaking some of the risk for major medical claims—keep that premium increase much lower.

The results are different depending on the amount of risk the County is willing to take on—how much money it is willing to escrow to cover such claims, and at what point it wants to employ what is called “stop loss” insurance.

The compromise the Commissioners finally agreed upon was one that will result in a premium increase of less than ½%; that’s a significant savings.

There will be increased administrative costs, however, and additional demands on Susie and the HR staff, as well as Clorinda Smith and the Finance Department. But for the employees, the transition should be pretty seamless, and result in the same high level of care to which they have become accustomed.

With the most recent mass shooting episode still in our thoughts, discussion naturally turns to workplace safety, and certainly that is a topic that needs exploring.

But while those incidents are (thankfully) relatively rare, employees (and their families) every day face dangers from infectious diseases, genetic disorders, and chronic conditions that pose a far greater threat than those other isolated but terrifying incidents.

The County wants to provide its employees a safe working environment, certainly, but the importance of making sure those employees have access to a high quality of medical care not just in an emergency, but in their everyday lives, can’t be overstated.

And that’s just what Tuesday’s decisions were meant to provide…