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Few Taking Part In City’s Health Care Subsidy Program

The new health care program aimed at removing Medicare eligible retirees off the city’s self-insured health care plan is not working out like Jamestown officials had hoped.

During the arbitration hearing between the city and the Kendall Club Police Benevolent Association, Joseph Bellitto, city comptroller, said so far only about half of the number of people city officials estimated have signed up for the program. He said around 30 people have signed up for the new health care subsidy programs for Medicare eligible retirees. He added city officials were hoping around 60 people would sign up for the program.

City officials budgeted a $600,000 savings in health care cost in the 2018 budget based on their estimate of 25-30 percent of retired former city employees participating in the program. Because participants are lower than expected, the city will only be saving around $300,000 in health care cost through the program. Bellitto said he hopes word-of-mouth advertising from those who signed up for the program will spread and lead to sign-ups from retirees.

Last year, Jamestown City Council accepted the $1.5 million state grant from the state Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments to use toward authorizing Northwest Financial Services to offer a Blue Cross Medicare plans and Arcade Financial Services to offer United Healthcare Medicare plans to retirees that are on the city’s self-insured health care plan.

In October, Sam Teresi, Jamestown mayor, said there are more retired former city employees on the city’s health insurance plan than current members of the government workforce. There are around 300 retirees are on the plan, which costs the city government $2.2 million a year, Teresi said. The current health care benefits for retirees was originally put in place, and largely still in tact, through legally approved and protected collective bargaining agreements with the city employee unions, including the Kendall Club, dating back to 1987.

Bellitto said the new health care program is similar to a health care savings account, which will pay the premiums on the new supplement programs. He said no checks are given directly to retirees who select to participate in the program, but instead their Medicare subsidy premium payment each month will be subtracted from an account with an assigned allocation for each retiree. Once the allocation is depleted, the retiree will then pay their monthly premium costs.

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