Most McHenry County departments seem on target to stay within budget this year, but County Administrator Al Johnson warned Thursday that employee health insurance could be a problem by the end of the fiscal year, Nov. 30.
Johnson told the County Board that health insurance spending could exceed the budget by as much as $500,000. The county Health Department also learned that Medicare wants back $80,000 in alleged overpayments to the county in 1997.
Six months through the budget year, the county’s biggest concern is its health-insurance fund. Open claims from prior years and a nearly 19 percent increase in the county’s health insurance premiums this year account for a projected year-end deficit of $300,000 to $500,000, he said. The county pays about two-thirds of employees’ health insurance costs.
To reduce the impact of insurance claims and rising premiums, the county recently approved a 10 percent increase in premiums for the county’s 200 union employees, who work in one of three bargaining units in the Sheriff’s Department.
More than 600 non-union employees, who have been paying higher premiums than union employees, saw no increase in premiums. Even with the increase, union employees would be paying less for insurance than non-union employees.