County health insurance premiums to remain same in 2019

Barrow County employees’ health insurance premiums through the county will remain the same in 2019, and the county will pay the same costs it is paying this year.
The county board of commissioners approved the county’s 2019 BlueCross BlueShield of Georgia health plan renewal during its biweekly meeting Tuesday night. According to figures presented by Matt Bidwell, the county’s insurance broker, the county budget will once again cover the bulk of its health premium at $3,613,869 — the same as 2018. Employees will pick up the remaining $880,686. The dental and vision rates also stayed the same. The county will pay $223,939 for dental, while employees will pay $109,164. The county will pay $40,634 for vision, while employees will pay $6,683.
Bidwell and county manager Mike Renshaw said they were encouraged by the improvement. The county saw a 12-percent increase in health premium rates from 2017 to 2018.
“Anytime we can go into the next (coverage) period and have zero increase is good,” commissioner Ben Hendrix said.
For more on Tuesday's board meeting, see the Oct. 10 edition of the Barrow News-Journal.