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County workers face health care changes
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners have authorized three health care plan options for county employees, effective April 1, 2016.
Currently, county employees pay 10 percent of their premiums, with the county paying the remaining 90 percent.
The options under the new program commissioners authorized Thursday are for employees to pay 15 percent, 10 percent or 5 percent of the premium, with the county paying the remainder.
The options with lower employee contributions toward the premium have higher deductibles and higher maximum out-of-pocket payments, explained Audrey Tillis, county budget director.
The changes would affect about 1,400 county employees, Tillis said.
The county spends about $24 million a year on health care for its employees, Tillis said. “We’re trying to stay within that $24 million,” she added.
Currently, an employee with single health care coverage pays about $95 a month toward a monthly premium of about $950, Tillis said.
Staying with the current arrangement would be cost-prohibitive for the county, she added.
The county is in negotiations with its employee labor unions concerning these changes, Tillis said, adding that the unions have always been cooperative with the county administration.
The county is self-insured, and Medical Mutual would be the administrator of the plans.
The commissioners also approved Thursday the award of a $6,000 sponsorship grant from the county’s hotel and motel bed-tax revenues to the Ohio Athletic Committee for its junior high and grade school state wrestling championships.
The junior high school age event will be March 12 and 13, and the grade school event will be March 19 and 20, 2016, at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown, where the committee is under contract to hold the annual event through 2017.
The OAC has had the championships every year since 2011 at the Covelli Centre, whose arena can accommodate 10 simultaneous wrestling matches.
In March 2015, there were 820 junior high school wrestlers, with a total attendance of 7,100 people, including the wrestlers, during that event weekend.
In March 2015, there were 1,200 grade-school wrestlers, with a total attendance of 9,900 people, including wrestlers, during that event weekend.
“We’re happy to work with this group to bring all these visitors to the area, and we appreciate our local hotel partners, who also work closely with OAC to help secure lodging for the participants and their families,” said Linda Macala, county Convention and Visitors’ Bureau director.