The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors voted 6-1 at its monthly meeting Tuesday to renew the county’s health insurance plan for fiscal year (FY) 2019 at a 7 percent increase, with the increase cost to be shared by the county and employees at the same proportion as in FY17.

Leigh District Supervisor Jerry R. Townsend provided the lone vote in opposition.

The meeting was also marked by a series of recognitions. Among them, U.S. Sen. Mark Peake, Del. James Edmunds and Matthew Becker, outreach director for U.S. Rep. Tom Garrett, honored late Farmville 101 District Supervisor Howard F. Simpson and recently retired Prince Edward County Circuit Court Clerk Machelle J. Eppes.

Before the board’s decision to renew the county’s health insurance plan at an increase, County Administrator Wade Bartlett read with slight paraphrasing the summary of details regarding the issue found in the board packet for the April meeting.

“The board of supervisors received information from the county’s health insurance consultant during the budget work session on April 3,” he said. “… The board was informed a 5.5 percent increase upon renewal would provide enough funding for the county’s self-insured health insurance plan assuming the plan design remained the same except for changes required by law. This increase is projected to provide just enough funding to cover projected claims but would leave very little margin for error in case claims are higher than anticipated. The consultant informed the board it should consider an increase of 7 percent to allow a little better cushion.”

The summary in the board packet cites that “the county’s health insurance plan will cost $929,760 for FY17 with the county paying $790,584 and the employee share being $139,176. A 5.5 percent increase would cost the county an additional $43,176, while 7 percent would be $55,416. The corresponding amounts for the employees would be $7,884 and $9,552, respectively.”

“The increase is proposed to be split between the county and the employees at the same ratio that currently exists,” Bartlett said.

He noted the recommendation was to authorize the chair of the board or the county administrator to sign all necessary documents to renew the county’s FY19 health insurance plan with a 7 percent increase in funds set aside with the same benefit structure to include any changes mandated by law.

“And your questions may be, ‘What are those?’” he said, referring to changes mandated by law. “It’s going to be regarding the pharmacy, the prescription drugs. Everybody’s going to change somewhat this year. The formula is going to change — not a great deal.”

“You mean the copay?” Townsend asked.

“Well, yes that will change the copay for prescription drugs in some cases,” Bartlett said. “Not every drug in all, so we’ll have to get those from Anthem when we finally get our final renewals. But the out-of-pocket expenses are going to remain the same — $300 and $500.”

“And we would be looking at 12 to 15 percent if we would have stayed with The Local Choice?” Buffalo District Supervisor C.R. “Bob” Timmons Jr. asked.

“Yes, sir,” Bartlett replied.

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s The Local Choice health benefits program is what the county had previously used to manage funding for county employees’ health insurance, acting as a pool for insurance costs.

A 5-3 vote by the board last year stipulated the county would change from The Local Choice to a self-funded system.

Simpson, Townsend, and then Prospect District Supervisor Calvin L. Gray voted in opposition to the motion to leave The Local Choice.