MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Monongalia County employees are about to see a switch in how health insurance will be provided heading into next year.
The Monongalia County Commission unanimously approved the switch to administer Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements during their rescheduled regular meeting Friday, which also included the cancelation of the group health insurance plan provided by Highmark WV. As part of the switch, a service agreement was approved with Take Command Insurance Agency Inc., which will be used by county employees to develop a personalized plan with premiums still covered by the county on a near 100 percent basis.
“Under the plan that we modeled, we’d be paying 98 percent, and the employees would be paying two percent,” said Commissioner Sean Sikora ahead of approving the switch. “Of the savings that we are seeing in premiums, the county would recognize a three percent savings on what we are currently paying.”
According to the commission, the switch will allow for the 265 people currently employed by the county to be able to have access to over 30 different individualized plans that can be tailored to an individual’s living circumstance. The plans will have options for employees wishing to account for family, with plans available from multiple carriers. The number of plans is expected to stay the same heading into 2026 and beyond with little to no change in cost for the county or employees that will pay less than five percent of the premium cost. Carriers will include notable names such as CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield.
“Each employee will be able to tailor their own plan, there’s 37 different plans in this model with three different carriers,” said Sikora.
To cover any potential cost increases, the commission created a separate allocation that accounts for any costs that an individual might see as a result of the switch. The allocation is expected to cover any changes related to Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that are currently under debate on a federal level in Washington, D.C., involving the ongoing government shutdown. In response to unconfirmed reports of premiums for employees potentially doubling over the switch being stated on social media, commissioners stated that allocations are in place so that any premium increases would be directly covered by the county.
“The subsidies not being renewed are already built into our plan, so we’ve already built that in,” said Commission President Jeff Arnett. “So it’s not like we’re modeling after our plan with the subsidies and then boom, it doesn’t happen, and it’s going to be doubled, we’ve taken that into consideration.”
The decision to make the switch was done in response to multiple downfalls that have come as a result of the county following a group health insurance plan. This includes being denied for group health insurance plans by multiple carriers due to the ratio of claims filed by employees versus premiums collected on annual basis. With plans to dig further into the weeds with employees in the coming weeks, the Monongalia County Commission feels confident the decision will be beneficial in the long term.
“They can go in and actually start looking at the plans,” said Sikora. “They can make individual appointments with customer support for this, and then we’re also going to organize workshops, which we will provide for employees to, one, research what their options are, and then come and ask questions.”