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Regular City Council Meeting <br />September 4,2003 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />Councilman Bell asked Mr. Alexander what was his understanding about the <br />coverage, the benefits, and what is on the table for consideration. Mr. <br />Alexander said the way he understands it is that the employees will possibly <br />be getting fewer benefits and having to pay more money. Mr. Alexander said <br />he felt the City Council could fix something like this if they looked hard <br />enough. Councilman Bell said it is important that the employees understand <br />that the figures that have been given to them say that Paris was paying about <br />$296.00 per employee and it has increased to $500.00. <br /> <br />Gene Anderson, Director of Finance, advised that this was changed back in <br />November of last year when he received the results for claims from the previous <br />year. He said based on the figures that he received, he estimated it would cost <br />$500.00 per employee per month. Mr. Anderson said that at this point, the city <br />hasn't contributed more than what the budget allowed. Mr. Anderson explained <br />that the city has employees that have employee only coverage, employee and <br />spouse coverage, and employee and children coverage, and in the past the city <br />has always paid for the employee's cost. He said for a long time the city <br />contributed $250.00 per employee for those who did not have dependent <br />coverage, and $350.00 if they had dependent coverage. He said that averaged <br />out to the number that the Mayor is talking about and it is a blend because you <br />have different amounts of employees in each one of those different levels. <br />Mayor Fendley stated that the City Council has no intentions of taking health <br />care away from the employees, but the plan needs to be changed and they need <br />to look at other options. He said that what he is hearing from his employees that <br />they would like to see is to keep the co-pay relatively inexpensive and their drug <br />card and those are the things that everybody is bumping up. He said that most <br />employees are paying $20.00 to $25.00 co-pay. <br /> <br />Mr. Alexander asked the Council what should the people be hearing. <br /> <br />Councilman Bell said that what has happened is the cost of insurance for <br />everyone has gone right through the roof. The employees of the City of Paris <br />have one of the finest medical insurance plans in the United States. They have <br /> <br /> <br />