Fayette County Employee Health Insurance Costs to Jump Again Next Year

At Thursday’s commissioners court meeting Orlando Espinoza of the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) gave a presentation about the annual renewal for employee insurance benefits. TAC provides health, vision and dental insurance for Fayette County employees. Espinoza said Fayette County will see an 8.5 percent increase in health insurance costs next year. The County experienced a similar jump last year. That compares to an average 4.6 percent increase across TAC’s insurance pool.

Espinoza said high-cost claims were the primary driver of the increase for Fayette County. The Commissioners recently approved an incentive program to encourage employees to schedule annual checkups with the doctor. Espinoza said such proactive measures help to lower high-cost claims for the other Counties that TAC serves. He said doctors can diagnose and manage health care issues before they become high-cost claims like heart attack or stroke.

The increase will cost the County a little over $200,000. Commissioners have until June 28 to approve the renewal. In the meantime, the County Auditor’s Office will work on several employee cost-sharing options to pay for the increase.