Several large healthcare claims and price inflation is causing the City of Kenai to spend nearly $300,000 extra this year on insurance for its employees.
City Manager Rick Koch said Kenai property owners don’t need to worry about another mill rate increase, despite the growing expenses…
Koch: “We had an increase of 20.75% on healthcare and this year’s premium is 1.44 million and so you put that twenty percent on that, $280,000 across all of the funds is healthcare.”
Finance Director Terry Eubank says the City switched providers last year, from United Health to Premera, as part of a cost-saving measure. Those savings were eliminated this year when Premera’s estimate went up 39.7 percent; the City changed plans again this year, still with Premera, but this plan will see a softener 20% increase.
The new plan puts more pressure on employees to seek services from “preferred providers” with whom Premera has negotiated prices. If the employee strays from the list, their co-pay increases significantly. There are 39 preferred providers in Kenai and 192 in Soldotna.