Morgan City hopes to lower health insurance costs

Morgan City government officials hope several new measures the council approved Tuesday will help rein in some of the more than $2 million the city spends on health insurance each year for city employees.
The council accepted six recommendations from the insurance committee for the city’s new health insurance plan beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
On July 1, the city signed a five-month agreement to change its health insurance contract from fully insured to self-funded, said Eric Pearson of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co, the city’s agent.
Health insurance has been costing the city over $2 million annually. The total city budget is roughly $35 million, Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi said.
Over time, the self-funded arrangement will prove to save the city a lot of money, Pearson said.
Self-funded insurance means the city pays a management fee to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, and then the city manages its own expenses and pays its own claims, Grizzaffi said in May.
Fully insured means the city pays a set amount of money to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, and Blue Cross is “responsible for everything,” the mayor said.
City leaders chose to go the self-funded route in an effort, they said, to avoid skyrocketing health insurance costs.
The approved recommendations included,
—Accepting the proposed renewal for stop loss insurance with no changes.
—Continuing to fund health insurance premiums for a single employee plan up to $550 per month with an additional $100 allowance on employees who choose a family plan. The cap on health insurance benefits for city employees is a new measure the city will implement, Grizzaffi said.
—Continuing with a two-tier medical insurance structure instead of a four-tier option.
—Moving Medicare retirees to the Hartford Insurance Co. as recommended by A.J. Gallagher. Under this measure, qualified retirees will be taken off the city’s plan and will receive better benefits as a result, Grizzaffi said.
—Transferring voluntary and basic insurance carriers to Life Insurance from MetLife.
—Offering three different plans, one being an adjusted benefits package to city employees at no cost to employees and two other plans with “richer benefits” that will require employee contribution, Grizzaffi said.
During the meeting, council members approved submitting a list of projects to request state capital outlay funds. The city has included those projects in the funding request for years in hopes of receiving the allocation, Grizzaffi said.
The request entails $1.47 million for La. 70 drainage improvements, $1.25 million for water system improvements, $2 million for a Brashear Avenue extension, $1.22 million for Brashear Avenue drainage improvements and $5 million for more Lake End Parkway cabins.
Also at the meeting, resident Tralles Rhodes said he is concerned with the poor condition of sidewalks throughout the city and wants city leaders to enforce an ordinance that requires property owners to maintain sidewalks in front of their property.
Rhodes has seen pedestrians have to walk into the roadway because of the cracked sidewalks, which is a potential danger to their safety, he said.
Grizzaffi said that some sidewalks in the city have been in horrible condition for many years, but city officials have aggressively pursued fixing sidewalks and are continuing that process.
Councilman Tim Hymel said homeowners should be responsible to repair sidewalks. He questioned whether road royalty funds may be able to be used to fix sidewalks, and property owners could maybe pay the city back through an installment plan.
Resident Michael Galler spoke of a separate concern about the use of Fourth Street as a non-approved truck route to make deliveries to businesses. Big trucks are shaking houses and hurting the condition of the street, Galler said.
Galler’s proposed solution is to include Sixth Street from Marguerite to Willard streets as part of the truck route. Officials could also designate Seventh Street to the red light at the intersection with Brashear Avenue in the route, he said.
Grizzaffi said city officials will look into the issue and consider making changes to the truck route ordinance, if necessary.
In other business, the council
—Approved designating Oct. 21-30 as Red Ribbon Drug-Free Week.
—Approved advertising to select a fiscal agent for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020. Bids will be received at 10 a.m. Dec. 5 in the City Hall conference room.
—Went through a first reading of an ordinance to amend the 2016 budget.
—Approved the reappointments of Sara Kidd and Kenny Arceneaux Jr. to the civil service board.