Andy Figlestahler of Ed Jacobs and Associates told the Cleveland City Council on Monday afternoon, "we're taking a 10.6, 11-percent increase" in the price of insurance premiums for city employees.
However, he said, "I know no one wants to pay 10 percent more...but I was kind of excited to get it to 10 based on our loss ratio."
He said the loss ratio, which was 108 percent, would typically lead to an increase closer to 30 percent.
Mr.
Figlestahler also pointed out, "Four percent of the 10 percent increase is going to the federal government to fund the Affordable Care Act."
Several city councilmen asked about potentially switching to a self-funded contract in the future, as some self-funded contracts are exempt from certain fees.
However, Councilman David Mays said, "We were self-insured at one time, and it didn't work. We went broke."
Mr. Figlestahler said, "When loss ratios are high it's not the most opportune time to looking into becoming self-funded. In my opinion, your loss ratios right now would exclude you from being a candidate for being self-funded."
He continued, "Our large claim report is one of the first ones we look at, claims above $20,000, and there are about 50 people on there."
Having more people on a policy with large claims increases the overall risk.
Mr. Figestahler also told the council, "Copays now accumulate toward the out-of-pocket maximum. In the past, these were not...as of Aug. 1, they will."
Councilman Richard Banks said, "We're sending four percent of our money to Washington. That doesn't benefit us here at all...It's like the stormwater mandates, we don't have any choice."
Also during the meeting, Cleveland resident James Wise petitioned the City Council to do something about his stormwater drainage problem. He said that developments on both city and county property had caused more water to be drained into his yard, located near Smith Drive.
Mr. Wise said, "We need help down there. I've been trying to get help for 30 years and I can't get any. We're paying city and county taxes and we're not getting anything out of it."
Councilman Charlie McKenzie asked if someone could go out and assess the problem.