DeKalb approves 40 percent increase in health insurance

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Health insurance costs will increase about 40 percent for DeKalb County retirees.

The county commission voted Tuesday to increase the monthly insurance payments by $75 or $83, depending on the package.

The monthly rate will increase from $216 to $299 for the premium package and from $176 to $251 for the standard package. The new rates are effective Jan. 1.

The increases only impact the county’s 3,800 retirees who are 65 or older and not current county workers, interim chief financial officer Joel Gottlieb said.

County officials said the increases are the result of more visits to the doctor and the declining health of the retirees.

“Claims drive the premiums,” Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb said the plan is a supplement to Medicare. “The post-65 retirees will have a better plan because it is fully insured and provides for things that Medicare will not cover,” Gottlieb told commissioners.

Commissioner Larry Johnson said he was concerned about the county not warning retirees about the price changes.

“We have a lot of factors impacting these price changes and we need to get a handle on them,” said Johnson, who works for the Fulton County Health and Wellness Department. “Let’s work on these factors now so we can have more creative ways to cover. We have to collaborate with other governments to get these costs down.”

Johnson said he wants to combine health insurance with the city of Atlanta and the school system next year to decrease costs.

A county spokesman said there have been price increases each year based upon the high number of claims.

DeKalb spends $110 million on healthcare each year, including $78 million for employee health insurance and another $10 million for healthcare at the jail.