Scott County Commission approves new health insurance with lower premium

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County has awarded its health insurance coverage for 2010.

In their regular meeting on Thursday, commissioners selected AmeriShare, provided by Anderson Green insurance in Sikeston, as its health insurance provider.

"It really mirrors the policy we had last year, but it's a totally different rate," said Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn. "It will cost about $120 less per month."

Plan features include: a $1,000 deductible, a $10/$25/$40 tier for prescriptions and $20 co-pays. As the county pays 85 percent of the insurance costs monthly, the new plan, estimated to cost about $385 per month, will save money for both the county and its employees. The actual price may vary slightly based on the number of participants.

The current plan is with Principal and costs $506.99.

Ten vendors submitted bids, which were opened in the commission's Dec. 3 meeting. Anderson Green was the only one that suggested the AmeriShare option. The next most popular plan was Anthem, with eight agencies submitting identical bids of $508.39 for the plan that mirrored current coverage.

"I'm pleased that a lot of agents submitted bids, and we got a lot of information from them," said Ziegenhorn. "It's too bad we can't award every agent."

With no further discussion, commissioners voted to approve AmeriShare as the county's new insurance provider. The bid is for one year, with an option to renew it for a second and third year, based on rate increases.

AmeriShare does not provide life insurance, so commissioners voted to keep it through Principal, the current provider.