The Athens County Commissioners decided Tuesday that county employees not covered by a union contract will have to pay higher insurance rates.
For a family insurance plan, an employee currently contributes $107.70 per pay cycle, but that will increase to $113.51 per year, according to commissioner Lenny Eliason.
Commissioner Charlie Adkins said that the increase would affect about 100 employees in Athens County.
Adkins said he was unaware whether the increase in rates is because of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
“The rates have increased every year,” Adkins said. “I’m not aware of a year they haven’t.”
Adkins said he opposes having employees fully pay for the difference between the current rate and the increased rate because it is not fair to employees.
“Due to the wages we pay and the economic conditions, they deserve to get an increase and not get it taken away by health care,” he said. “Our employees deserve a living wage and living benefits.”
Adkins made a motion to absorb the cost, meaning that the county would pay for the $5.45 difference for a family plan and a $2.06 difference for a single plan.
However, Eliason disagreed with Adkins’ proposal, arguing that paying the entire cost would be more damaging to employees.
“I don't think it’s a good idea,” Eliason said. “In my experience, when it comes to the times where we’ve done that, we have to come back with a big pass off later on, and it really hurts the employees a lot.”
The commissioners accepted commissioner Chris Chmiel’s proposal of having employees and the county each pay for half the increase.
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