Phelps County employees got a new lease on life Thursday — their health insurance coverage was renewed for another year.
The Phelps County Commission, by approving a one-year renewal with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, locked in a 1 percent reduction of medical insurance costs and the likelihood of a large reimbursement of county-paid insurance premiums through a program of “refund reconciliation,” if no additional catastrophic claims are filed by county employees through December.
“We’re saving approximately $6,000 immediately, and by summer, approximately $50,000 will be refunded to the county if no large claims are made through December,” said Larry Stratman, commissioner District 1.
Presiding Commissioner Randy Verkamp said county employees would not see any changes in their benefits, nor any increases in their premiums.
With 125 of its 150 full-time employees on the county medical insurance roster, the total cost to insure one county employee is $431.15, of which $43.11 is paid monthly by the employee for the base plan and $48.25 for the enriched plan.
Phelps County also pays 100 percent of the premiums for employees’ basic life insurance and accidental death and disability insurance.  Effective Jan. 1, the monthly premium for this coverage for all county employees will cost $1,323.
Part-time county employees are not eligible for any insurance benefits.
The Commission also reviewed the county’s local sales tax receipts for the month of September.  Total receipts were $209,458, a decrease of 2.78 percent from September, 2007, receipts.
Year-to-date, Phelps County local sales tax receipts total $2.057 million, which reflects a decrease of 2.96 percent from the same period in 2007.