Fulton Council votes on employee coverage under health care law

The Fulton City Council agreed to shoulder fees for the city's employees if they make good on their annual checkups, but passed on any increases in dependent coverage at the Tuesday council meeting.

Human Resources Director Michelle Frazee addressed the council with a number of options for adjusting to certain fees and costs associated with the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare.

Frazee said the city would see an increase of about $16,800 in reinsurance fees under the act.

The reinsurance fee is a health insurance industry-wide levy on employer-provided insurance plans established to offset the potentially disproportionate demographics of older and less healthy applicants, which is slated to ratchet down from $12 billion in 2014 to $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion by 2016, according to uhc.com.

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For personal coverage, Johnson suggested that the council charge employees about $20 a month premium starting Aug. 1, 2014, but waiving that premium if the employee visits a doctor for an annual wellness checkup by that time - in addition to covering 100 percent of the wellness check's cost.

Johnson said the check would be of benefit to the city by identifying or preventing health problems early, and showed the city was "stepping up to take care of its employees."

Councilman Wayne Chailland put it into motion, and it was unanimously adopted.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.