Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

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The City of Gurdon is searching for a less expensive way to keep health insurance available to the city's employees after watching insurance costs make dramatic increases over the past two years.

Gurdon Mayor Clayton Franklin said the city is currently paying 80 percent of the cost of premiums for employees' health insurance, an amount that comes to about $900 per year per employee. For the Gurdon Fire Department, the cost represents $118,000 this year, the majority of the department's budget. In fact, Franklin said that means there is no money in the fire department's budget for other necessary expenses, including truck tires that must be replaced soon.

"We'll have to scrape and rake and find money to do that from some other fund," he said.

The city is currently insured by the Arkansas Municipal League. The organization offers insurance to cities but Franklin said they might not be offering the best deal for the city of Gurdon. The Municipal League also does not offer insurance for employees who are over 65, Franklin said.

Franklin said he sought out other insurance companies and asked for quotes. The city conducted a survey of employees. Potential insurers were given information from medical histories, including surgeries, current medications and ongoing conditions. Franklin said Harold Campbell and Company of Camden, underwriters for a larger company, is currently using the information to consider whether they would insure the city.

"They'll look to see how sick we are, in essence, to see if they'll take us on," Franklin said.

Franklin said there are 18 city employees and about 20 firefighters. Some employees carry insurance on their families while others insure only themselves. In some cases, Franklin said a spouse has better insurance and the employee is can elect to carry no insurance.

The firefighters are all volunteers and are not full time city employees, but Franklin said the insurance is a major incentive for the volunteers. They are paid $30 for attending fire meetings and receive pay for attending a fire, but the insurance is their only other "pay."

Franklin said the health insurance premiums for city employees have doubled in the past two years, but said it's a problem affecting most people.

Some larger organizations are opting for self-insurance, citing the ability to better control costs. Some are offering less in the way of benefits to lower the cost and in some cases, health insurance is simply not offered as a benefit.

Franklin said the city will have to do "one of two things  find a cheaper rate or get the employees to participate more." This means employees would be responsible for a greater portion of the premiums.

"When we get them to pay more, they can't afford the insurance," Franklin said.

Franklin said the city's current coverage includes major medical and a dental plan. Dropping the dental coverage could save "a few bucks," but Franklin said it would not contribute a significant amount of savings.