The Monroe County commissioners met on Nov. 5 with a light agenda, having only one scheduled appointment.

Filling out the light schedule was Bob Tschappat representing Health Plan insurance. The purpose of Tschappat’s visit was to discuss the rate increases set for the county’s health insurance.

Tschappat confirmed what had already been reported, that the HMO plan will see a 16 % rate increase while the PPO plans will see a 12% rate increase. According to Tschappat, there are multiple reasons for the significant increase.

First of all, Tschappat said prescription coverage costs went up 38% due to the usage of specialty drugs by county employees. Secondly, Tschappat reported that there had been several catastrophic claims that cost the Health Plan more than $50,000, including some that cost more than $100,000. All told, the county’s loss ratio has been over 100% which means more money was paid out by the insurance company than was taken in via premiums.