County mulls worker benefits

SANDPOINT — Bonner County employee contributions to their health insurance benefits are expected to increase by approximately 20 percent.

However, county workers will be eligible for a 20-percent discount if they are tobacco-free and enrolled the employee wellness program. The maximum discount is currently 10 percent.

Tobacco users who enroll in the program will be eligible for a 10-percent discount, although county Commissioner Mike Nielsen is advocating that the discount dissipate after six months if the person has not given up tobacco products.

County commissioners are expected to approve the plan changes during a reconvened board meeting today. The county is also expected to remain with Wells Fargo Insurance Services, but Commissioner Lewis Rich is recommending the county solicit a bid from Blue Cross of Idaho.

Last year, the board switched from Blue Cross, which had a 64-year business relationship with the county.

“We could save even more by going back to Blue Cross with an apples-to-apples bid,” said Rich.

Rich was accused last year of leaking competitive bid information to Blue Cross after the county received requests for proposals from bidders. Rich denied doing anything untoward with the information he possessed.

Craig Culbertson of Wells Fargo told commissioners on Tuesday that going out to bid for brokers every year is counterproductive because the county would not be taken seriously and would not receive the best rates.

“Blue Cross knows us. It’s not a new carrier,” countered Rich.

Nielsen defended the county’s switch to Wells Fargo and pointed to a Kaiser Foundation study indicating the average insurance policy runs around $15,000 per year per family. The policies through Bonner County are less than $10,000.

“The average employee — married, family — pays over $4,000 per year as their contribution. Here in the county we pay less than $2,000 even with these new rates,” said Nielsen.

Rich agreed that Bonner County’s benefits are strong, but the pay is weak.

“We don’t pay what most of what our employees could earn out in the public sector,” Rich said.