Town mulls health care costs

Rising health care costs have caused Chapel Hill to re-evaluate employee health care coverage in next year’s budget.

Proposed changes include an on-site health care facility and increases in insurance co-pays. These changes come in response to an anticipated 13.9 percent increase in health care costs next year.

One major change includes working with UNC Hospitals to improve health services provided to town employees through wellness programs.

In an e-mail sent to town employees, Town Manager Roger Stancil stated that the increasing health care costs have made it difficult to maintain the town’s current health benefit package for employees.

Town employees currently receive health coverage through BlueCross BlueShield.

In the e-mail, he outlined the proposals for creating an on-site health care facility at the Town Operations Center and increasing employees’ co-pays for regular doctor and emergency room visits. Stancil has asked the town council for nearly $368,000 to fund these changes.

Stancil enlisted the help of a forum of town employees from a variety of departments to provide input about how to combat rising costs and still provide adequate coverage to employees.

Amy Oland, an accounting manager in the town’s business management department, was part of the forum.

“We were trying to figure out the short-term fixes and then look forward to the long term to keep costs sustainable,” Oland said.

Part of these long-term plans include enlisting the help of UNC Hospitals to evaluate the town’s ability to provide health services to employees.

Karen McCall, UNC Hospitals vice president of public affairs and marketing, said the town approached UNC seeking advice on how to reduce health costs.

She said while the discussions are still preliminary, they have focused on ways to prevent health issues by encouraging employees to participate in town-sponsored wellness programs.

These programs provide employees with resources and incentives to adopt healthy lifestyle choices. This helps reduce the number of insurance claims, Oland said.

An on-site health care facility would also cut costs by treating employees in house for routine doctor visits and checkups.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Jim Ward said he agreed the current health coverage is not sustainable and an on-site facility would help alleviate costs.

“The council understands the value a facility like that would have for employees by allowing easier access to heath care,” Ward said.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.