Macon County is overhauling its insurance program. The reason is, the county reduced its contributions in the interest of living in the moment and letting the future take care of itself. That was right around the time the future decided it wasn’t going to take care of itself anymore. In lieu of disaffecting taxpayers with rate hikes, the county started dipping into its insurance reserve fund to make ends meet. That worked fine until this year, when, – Whoooops! – the reserve fund balance was discovered to be on a collision course with the x-axis.
Among new changes are increased contributions from both the county and employees. A two-tier system is being set up with an option for those who don’t mind selling their bodies.
Right now, if a 30 year old applied for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, with no dependents, it would cost him about $300 a month for the same gold plan being offered under the county’s new plan. But a county employee, applying for the same, can get the plan at no cost.
