February 28, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County Commissioners may now have access to enrollment in the county’s health insurance group plan.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting, the commission voted itself that opportunity on a 12-2 vote. Commissioners Jeff Barnes and Glynn Merriman voted against it. Those voting in favor were Daniel Cripps, Tom Chandler, Myron Rhody, Sabrina Farler, Tony Luna, Susannah Cripps Daughtry, Greg Matthews, Tony (Cully) Culwell, Larry Green, Justin Adcock, Tim Reynolds, and Beth Pafford.
The county’s health insurance group plan is currently offered to full time employees and the county contributes $450 per month as a benefit to them partly to help meet mandates of the federal Affordable Care Act. Under the law, the lowest paid full-time county employee cannot pay more than 9.565% of their salary for insurance.
Unlike county employees, county commissioners who enroll in the plan would have to pay for their part of the coverage entirely out of pocket with no contribution to them from the county until at least after the next election cycle in 2026.
The county currently pays each County Commissioner $150 to attend monthly commission meetings and $75 per committee meeting to which they are assigned. According to County Mayor Matt Adcock, the commissioners cannot receive any extra remuneration from the county during their current terms of office which ends August 31, 2026.
“This motion tonight is allowing a county commissioner to apply for enrollment in the plan and they could do it now but they (commissioners) would have to pay the full premium. We (county) would not be able to contribute the $450 toward it like we would a normal employee because that is part of their contribution. We would have to wait until after the next election cycle (to include contributions to county commissioners),” said County Mayor Adcock.
The question becomes would the county be on the hook for any county commissioner enrolled in the group plan who failed to pay his or her premiums?
“When I spoke with our HR representative, she said when an employee takes our insurance plan they can’t drop it until the following October when open enrollment begins again. The only way it could be dropped is if they are terminated or no longer employed by the county. Once you (county commissioners) were elected you became kind of like a county employee almost so you would have to quit being a commissioner to get rid of the insurance. The reason it works for an employee is because of the payroll deduction for insurance. We don’t have to worry about an employee paying (premiums) because we (county) take it out of their check for them. There is no risk of them not paying. But your (county commissioners) checks are so small we can’t do payroll deduction for insurance because it would be more than you make so there is a possibility the county would have to pay it (unpaid premiums) because we can’t drop it (insurance until open enrollment) if you don’t pay it. We have to or we get fined,” said County Mayor Adcock.
“I spoke with Director of Schools Patrick Cripps and he said some of the board of education members already have access (to the school systems group health insurance plan) and they pay premiums to him. They bring them in by a certain time of the month. That’s how they do it. He (Cripps) said there were some allowances for direct pay and things like that and his understanding was that the Board of Education wasn’t responsible if they (school board members) don’t pay their premiums. There is just a 30-day grace period, and they are then cancelled from the plan (if they don’t pay). I am seeking information from the benefits administrator for the plan to find out exactly how that works so that we make sure we don’t put any liability on the county if someone (county commissioner) does wish to have access and participate in the plan,” said Commissioner Susannah Cripps Daughtry.