NEW ALBANY —
After the Floyd County Commissioners approved the rebates last week, New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan confirmed Friday the city stands to receive about $250,000 as a result of savings garnered through the federal Affordable Care Act.
How those rebates will be distributed is still being decided, Gahan said, as the administration is waiting on more information to determine if refunds can be directly given to employees or if the savings must be applied through other means.
Mandating that medical insurance providers spend no more than 20 percent of premiums on administrative costs, companies have been sending out rebate checks to customers ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline to comply with what’s known as the 80/20 rule of the Affordable Care Act.
Eighty percent of customer premiums must foot health services under the law, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in June. Last week, the commissioners OK’d a one-time payment to employees covered by the county’s insurance plan.
The county may also change how it distributes refunds to its employees.
About 260 employees were approved to receive a rebate check of up to $600 based on the $169,748 the county received, but commissioners President Steve Bush said Friday the body is reviewing that decision to ensure it meets the stringent requirements of the federal law.
“There’s certain guidelines that we have to go by,” he said.
New Albany’s insurance agent, Culpepper Cooper, directed calls about the city’s savings to Gahan on Friday.
“We will be getting together and talking about the rebate” on Wednesday, Gahan said. “Obviously, that’s great news and we should make an announcement regarding our plans and what that’s going to mean to the employees, and the future, and what our plan is for the health care program for city employees.”
He added he needs to be briefed on what the regulations are for the rebates.
“Obviously we’re going to do the best we can to make it beneficial to the city employees,” Gahan said.
The rebates have to benefit the employees that paid into the insurance program in the past, Bush said. But it needs to be determined whether that can be in the form of a direct payment — such as was approved by the commissioners last week — or through discounts to future insurance premiums, he continued.
The lack of raises for county employees in recent years “was one of the reasons we wanted to give” workers a direct payment instead of discounting insurance premiums, Bush said.
The rebates aren’t just for public employees, as private residents may also be entitled to refunds from their insurance provider.
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Discussion
July 29, 2012
New Albany receives $250k rebate
Refunds via Affordable Care Act must benefit employees who paid insurance premiums
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