R-9 Board Changes Employee Health Insurance Providers

The Trenton R-9 Board of Education approved a new provider for employee health insurance during a special meeting on Monday at the district office.
On a 6-1 vote, the board agreed to use United Healthcare as its insurance provider for the 2019-20 school year. The cost will be $601 per month, per employee, with the board agreeing to pay the entire cost. Superintendent Dan Wiebers said that as part of the motion, the board voted to cap what it will pay for employee insurance at $602, which was amended from an original motion to cap the cost at $600 and would have required employees to pay $1.
Marcie Cutsinger cast the lone no vote, stating her concern about the cost of the buy-up plan for additional coverage with United Healthcare. That plan, Wiebers said, would cost employees $93.57.
The board had looked at proposals from United Healthcare, National General and Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the district’s current provider. National General had been the lowest cost plan at $511.24 per month, while the BC/BS plan would have cost $658.34, representing an $86.34 per employee increase over what the district had been paying this year. The plan chosen by the board will be $29 per employee, per month higher and cost the district an additional $66,987 for the year.
All three plans would have maintained the $2,500 deductible, with BC/BS and United Healthcare plans also maintaining other benefits offered in the current package. The National General plan would have had a higher co-pay for doctor and emergency room visits as well as a small increase in pharmacy costs.
Wiebers said a survey was conducted in which around 53 percent of employees said they would favor keeping the same insurance provider even if the board put a cap on the amount it would pay. The survey indicated that 82 percent of those taking the survey were willing to pay out-of-pocket for the additional premium cost over the cap.
Before taking the final vote regarding health care coverage, another motion was voted on that would have approved the United Healthcare plan and delayed the payment cap discussion until the June board meeting. That motion was defeated 3-4 with Dorothy Taul, Cliff Roeder and Brandon Gibler voting yes. Mrs. Cutsinger, Doug Franklin, Dr. David Whitaker and Corey Leeper voted no. A motion by Leeper to approve the National General plan died for a lack of a second.
Wiebers said there was some discussion of the possibility of allowing the Salary and Welfare Committee to look at insurance costs and making a recommendation to the board for next year, however, no final decision was made.
Following an executive session, the board hired Rachel Ferry as the high school FACS teacher and FCCLA sponsor. Resignations were accepted from high school government teacher Lysander Overstreet and elementary teacher Julienne Graupman.