[0:08] [clears throat]

[0:11] » Good morning everyone. I'd like to

[0:14] call this special called meeting to order September the 8th, 2026 at 8:00

[0:19] a.m. We do have a certification of a quorum.

[0:24] We do not have public comments at this time.

[0:27] And um we are just going to go in to item

[0:31] number four. Consideration of and action on

[0:37] resolution R-2026-48 authorizing renewal of employee health

[0:42] plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas

[0:45] for fiscal year 2027 and authorizing the city manager or their designee to

[0:50] execute all relevant documents. >> Yep. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you all

[0:55] again for coming for this special called meeting. It was

[0:58] important because if we are to implement item number two,

[1:02] we need time to do that before the plan expires at the end of the or before the

[1:07] plan kicks in October 1. And so that is why you're here. In front of you is

[1:11] resolution R-2026-48. That resolution simply sets the ceiling

[1:17] for how high we can go on health insurance. Uh

[1:21] the worst case scenario that we found on this health insurance is 57% renewal. I

[1:26] will tell you that your fiscal uh proposed budget cannot support that. Uh

[1:31] the the top of the the threshold for

[1:35] uh the plan redesign with moving sales tax to a very

[1:41] uncomfortable level for your finance director and myself. Meaning setting

[1:44] sales tax at the current sales tax collections

[1:48] would be to go up to to not quite 48%. So, you do have room. Uh we we set the

[1:55] sales tax really low in this proposed budget just because of what happened

[1:58] last year. Uh but there there is the ability to to go above the 10% we have

[2:04] right now. So, I think Kobe, are you prepared to say anything or do you want

[2:09] the chips to fall where they fall? Um Renee, do you want to introduce

[2:15] where we are right now as of this moment?

[2:26] » Good morning. >> Good morning.

[2:28] » This is one of the years that's not as much fun as the other years.

[2:32] Basically, what's happened this year is we had a horrible year with our premium

[2:35] what we pay versus our claims. Okay? Our claims are horrible. A good

[2:40] year we run about 65 to 70% premium versus claims, so there's a 30% profit

[2:45] to pay it administration fees and all that.

[2:47] This year we are running at 996%. So,

[2:53] it's we're having a horrible year. We have over $10 million in claims.

[2:56] And >> Kobe, when you say we, you're saying the

[2:58] city. >> City. I'm sorry. City and employees or

[3:00] like that. So, basically, what we do every year is we put a RFP request for

[3:04] proposal and we go out and we go to United Healthcare, we go to Cigna, we go

[3:08] to Blue Cross, we go to Aetna, or whoever will write. We even went to

[3:11] company called Angle, Arlo, Curative. We're searching hard to find somebody

[3:16] else. And everybody's declining us. So, there's nobody playing ball with Blue

[3:20] Cross this year. Usually, we can find somebody

[3:23] that will play, then we'll go back and forth and get them to negotiate. But

[3:26] being that we're running so bad, nobody wants our

[3:29] case. So, there's nobody want that there's just

[3:33] nobody to do it. So, what we're trying to do is

[3:36] be creative and try different plan designs, um you know, just to [snorts]

[3:40] make it affordable for the city. Um and the only only being that we only

[3:45] have Blue Cross to work with, they didn't even come off their number.

[3:47] Usually, they'll come off 20, 15, 20% depending. They just stayed cuz they I

[3:51] mean, let's just be honest, they probably don't want the business either

[3:53] right now. So, what we're trying to do is get creative working with the city is

[3:57] find ways to get our claims versus premium

[4:00] back to where we need to get it. So, we're looking at implementing programs

[4:04] to possibly help, you know, the employees or the families that are

[4:08] having claims and uh possibly getting them some better just help them out, try

[4:12] to help them out first. That's our first priority.

[4:15] But, that being said, we are uh we came across another program called the

[4:18] difference card. And what they do is when you move to a higher deductible

[4:22] plan, of course, there's cost savings. So, say you go from a

[4:26] 1,500 to a 6,000, 7,000 deductible, there's like 20, 30, sometimes 35% of

[4:31] savings to make it more affordable. But, what

[4:34] the difference card does, and this is the first time I've used them, is they

[4:38] come in and they'll design a program to where

[4:42] we save the 30, 40% with Blue Cross Blue Shield, but then they'll design a

[4:46] program to where the employees' deductible really isn't the $7,000.

[4:50] They'll use all that savings to come in and implement a program and an

[4:53] administrator for us to where maybe the deductible's only 1,500 or 4,000 to keep

[4:58] it reasonable and not this full, you know, 7 to $10,000 out of pocket that

[5:02] we're faced with right now. So, we're looking at the difference card. I know

[5:05] that's on the agenda as one of them. Uh there's other programs we're looking at

[5:09] implementing to possibly help some of these people out, too.

[5:12] But, in a nutshell, it's just it was a it's been a bad year as far as premium

[5:15] versus claims, and uh we're doing everything we can

[5:18] possibly do to keep health care for the employees, you know, to keep a group

[5:23] health plan in there. Uh I can tell you last year we did move

[5:26] to an HMO from a PPO. We had both of them, and there was really no

[5:29] disturbance or any issues with the HMO. It covered 98% of people here in El

[5:33] Campo. The local hospital worked with them, but not only that, it covered all

[5:37] the people in Houston, Victoria, and all that. So, we're looking in some options

[5:40] with them and just uh trying to get creative, just to be honest, just keep

[5:43] health care for El Campo right now. I'm open to any questions.

[5:47] I know I went to Yes, sir. >> So, basically what the deal I'm

[5:51] understanding in layman's terms is that we had so many claims.

[5:55] That's what created the difference and so forth. Was there Is there any a

[5:59] reason here locally why Is there something going on? Is it I mean, I know

[6:03] you can't disclose any personal information, but what what area of

[6:07] claims was mostly utilized that made this go up so badly this year?

[6:12] » We had We had multiple large claims. >> Okay.

[6:16] » And I respect it. I wish I could tell you more.

[6:18] » I'm not asking for >> We had multiple. It just wasn't one

[6:20] claim. We've had multiple large claims. And

[6:25] » Okay. >> It's It's just

[6:27] It's been a bad year premium versus claims.

[6:29] » So, it's nothing like a >> No, it's It's not something like

[6:32] » pandemic or >> somebody's using some type of medicine

[6:35] or something like that and we can If it was like, okay, everybody's, you know,

[6:38] we have a bunch of diabetics, let's put in a program to help these diabetics

[6:41] out. >> Okay.

[6:42] » It's nothing like that. Or our whole These are high blood pressure, let's

[6:45] implement a wellness program. It's just been a horrible claim a horrible year

[6:49] for claims. >> Okay.

[6:51] Thank you. >> All right. Yes, sir.

[6:53] » Cowboy, it's pretty obvious from the committee meeting to now that we can't

[6:56] afford Blue Cross Blue Shield. So, can we get into the difference card

[7:00] to see which one's best that you came up with?

[7:03] » Sure. Whatever you all want However you all want to discuss it. Uh

[7:06] you have the difference card presentations in front of you.

[7:09] Um I guess the one that Renee and all of us have been discussing is

[7:15] the one that shows a $216,000 savings possibly. I don't know which one you

[7:20] have there. >> We've got We've got several.

[7:22] » Okay. >> But but I think this is the one for the

[7:24] difference card, right? >> Well, I just grabbed my

[7:27] » Yeah. >> Uh excuse me. This chart today Is that

[7:29] something? I think that is actually the difference card

[7:33] program is actually item number two. >> Yes.

[7:35] » Uh so so I think what I think it has to be to keep it simple, it has to be

[7:40] » Right. >> separated. And then the first option is

[7:42] the Blue Cross Blue Shield and then the second

[7:53] » And and just just to be clear you Yeah,

[7:56] we've got to authorize Blue Cross Blue Shield because we don't have anybody

[7:59] else. >> Right. And then the difference card

[8:01] would come in and make up the difference for a very watered down plan if that's

[8:06] the prerogative of the council. >> Right, exactly. So so yeah, the

[8:10] difference card like Kelly was saying it's it's

[8:12] basically another program that layers on top of the Blue Cross Blue Shield

[8:16] traditional plan. >> we need to authorize number one first.

[8:19] I make a motion we authorize resolution 2026-48.

[8:24] » Second. >> We got a motion a second on the floor

[8:30] to approve resolution R 2026-48 as presented.

[8:36] Any further discussion? All in favor?

[8:40] Motion passes. We will move on to item number two.

[8:44] » Okay. All right, thank [snorts] you.

[8:46] First of all, as we know Courtney said we we're not going to go in with a 55

[8:51] plus That's not what we're looking at doing. So we're going to

[8:54] alter plan design, get creative, do ways something to help with the the employees

[8:58] keep it bring it down in the city. The difference card is the next item on

[9:02] the on the agenda and what we did is we found these people that go in and what

[9:06] they do if you look at your presentation, I don't know which one

[9:09] exactly I have in front of Uh but if you look

[9:12] Go to one of these pages. Mine's not as pretty as yours.

[9:16] Okay.

[9:19] Basically what the difference card does is they take Well, they they try to

[9:23] compare your current plan design and then what they they do and the first one

[9:26] is your kind of your current benefits. If you look for example, it says the

[9:29] employees have a $45 deductible, $90 for specialist, $75

[9:34] uh it says what their deductible would be on some of the plans which was a

[9:37] 5,000, 8150 out of pocket. So, if you had a major surgery, you'd be out of

[9:41] pocket 81,150 dollars, okay, on that plan. But, what they do is they move

[9:46] your plan with the Blue Cross plan. If you look, it's stripped down. It says

[9:50] deductible deductible deductible deductible all the way to 7,500.

[9:53] And what that means is on that plan you have no office copays, you have no

[9:57] prescription coverage, or nothing until you hit 7,500 dollars.

[10:02] So, for an employee, that's that's not a really good deal. That's something to

[10:05] look forward to, like, oh. So, what the difference card comes in is they come in

[10:09] and create a different plan design. Cuz there's like 30 to 40% savings when

[10:13] you do that, okay? Cuz you're not having those deductibles. But, what we did know

[10:18] is to answer your question, majority of our employees don't ever hit

[10:22] their deductible. Okay? Let's just say eight to 10 hit it

[10:25] a year, possibly, out of 150. So, we're taking that 30 40% savings and

[10:30] we're Let's just say we're putting it into a bucket and we're going to use

[10:33] that to help the employees with their claims.

[10:35] So, we're building a new plan design where they have their Blue Cross card,

[10:39] and in their mind they're not seeing the 7,500 dollar deductible, okay? They're

[10:42] seeing a card right here at the on this on the PPO plan which the rates are

[10:46] still very high. So, the next plan is going to be the more attractive one.

[10:50] But, what this plan would be designed to do, and this is for example cuz we're

[10:53] still negotiating, is that fair to say, Renee, on on the rates with the

[10:56] difference card? Is if they went on the PPO plan, the difference card would pay

[11:01] the first 1,500 dollars of any employees uh

[11:06] medical bills. And if it's an employee plus one, which is employee

[11:10] uh children, family, spouse, they would pay the first 3,000 dollars of their

[11:14] medical bills. So, they're not looking at the 7,500

[11:17] dollar big, you know, deductible. And then what what happened then on this

[11:21] plan design, then the employees would pay the back 6,000 if they got that far.

[11:26] Well, they're paying 8150 right now on that plan. So, what what doing is

[11:30] actually increasing their benefits. The rates are going up cuz there's nothing

[11:33] we can do, but we're trying to get creative and find ways to help these

[11:36] employees out. Okay? So, that's where the difference card comes in. You'd have

[11:39] a Blue Cross card, and you'd have another card to where that's the card

[11:43] they would show, and they would have first dollar coverage. So, for 90% of

[11:46] our employees basically that do not have more more than a thousand or fifteen

[11:50] hundred up to three thousand of family worth of claims, this is a really good

[11:53] deal for them. Okay?

[11:55] It's more expensive. There's nothing we can do about the cost right now, but

[11:58] we're like I said, what we're doing is we're looking at creative ways of

[12:01] possibly help these people out, and hopefully next year we'll look

[12:03] attractive and we can get the cost back down. Okay? Cuz honestly, I've never had

[12:07] a 58% rate increase. Okay? So, uh hopefully we can find ways to get the

[12:12] cost back down. So, that would be the PPO plan that we're looking at, which

[12:16] not it's about 50/50 their own PPO versus HMO. And you can still the rates

[12:21] really still do go up where it's almost it's

[12:24] pretty expensive. And then the next plan is the other I

[12:27] guess is the other PPO plan. >> Second

[12:30] » Yeah. So, go to the third plan if you don't mind, please.

[12:33] In the green on the bottom right it it says 766 for the employee only rate.

[12:38] So, basically this is the plan that um

[12:42] I think a majority of our employees are going to are going to go, you know,

[12:45] steer towards. Your basic Blue Cross Blue Shield plan right now was a $35

[12:50] copay, $70 for a specialist. Uh the deductible was 2,000, and if you

[12:55] had a major surgery, it was 6,000. Okay? So, if I had a knee replacement

[12:58] something, I'm out of pocket six. I have copays and everything on that plan.

[13:02] Okay? So, what we're doing is we're that that was a 43% rate increase on that

[13:07] plan. The PPO plan got a 68% rate increase.

[13:11] All right? So, what we're looking here is moving our plan design with Blue

[13:15] Cross Blue Shield to a higher deductible plan.

[13:19] Okay? Which is the one next to it. And what that does it give us some cost

[13:23] savings to where we can implement another program in.

[13:26] So, what this plan would do here, if we go to the difference card as a option,

[13:31] what would happen is the member would pay Excuse me, you'd have a $30 copay,

[13:35] just like you currently have, versus the 35. You'd have a $50 copay versus a 70

[13:40] for specialist, okay? So, you have the options of still having your office

[13:44] copay. So, the majority of the employees here and their families are going to be

[13:47] covered at the copay level, all right? But, then what happens after that, the

[13:51] member, if they have a major surgery or something, they're going to pay the

[13:54] first 4,500 of the surgery. And then the difference card pick up the

[13:58] back end of all the expenses. Okay? So, again, what our employees are

[14:04] looking at on their other plan they currently have, they had a 6,000 out of

[14:06] pocket. On this one, uh we're going to

[14:11] they're going to pay the first 4,500. And then their max would be another

[14:15] 2,200. So, we're we're not really hurting their benefits currently in what

[14:19] they're doing. We're trying to get their benefits back to where they are at. Now,

[14:22] the cost is it's the cost. I mean, that's that's the hard pill to swallow

[14:25] is we can get creative on the plan designs,

[14:28] but the as you can see, you're still the cost is going up, and that's where we're

[14:32] working hard with Whitney and Renee and Courtney is to trying to find a way

[14:36] to possibly get it. But, for example, on Blue Cross Blue Shield, when they give

[14:40] us our renewal, they'll give us 50 different plan designs,

[14:45] okay? And we'll go through them and try to figure out which one's the best and

[14:49] what will work. And this is one of the cheapest one. I hate these words cheap,

[14:52] that is on that plan at 754. And that's why we're using that to get

[14:57] as much as cost savings as we can, and then possibly use the difference card to

[15:01] build a plan design for the employees and their families

[15:04] that doesn't hurt as bad, you know?

[15:07] And the bottom line, the difference card, what it allows us to do, if we can

[15:10] make it work, again, you take the cost savings from the, you know, the 30 to

[15:15] 40% it's in a bucket of money. So, instead of giving that money to Blue

[15:18] Cross in premium, we're going to put it to the side in

[15:21] account and we're going to >> [cough]

[15:23] » take for up dollar cost for our employees.

[15:26] And we know it's guaranteed by just moving the difference card

[15:30] versus our renewal. If we do one plan design, it's like 200,000 savings. So,

[15:35] there's a max out of pocket. We cannot we will not spend more than we would if

[15:39] we did not have the difference card. Okay? So, by using this this difference

[15:43] card to help kind of I don't want to use the word self-insured cuz it's not

[15:47] there's cost savings for the city. So, there's no risk as far as using the card

[15:51] versus our maximum liability. Okay? But, the bottom line is the

[15:55] maximum liability has jumped very high. So, we got to find a way to get creative

[15:59] and keep keep benefits in. Did I explain that or did I miss

[16:02] something, Renee, Courtney? >> Kobe, the the one that you have here for

[16:06] the difference card that that where it says base plan design, that's the that's

[16:11] the base plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield that we would have and then we'd

[16:14] put the difference card on top. Is that correct?

[16:16] » Correct. >> Okay. Okay.

[16:17] » Correct. >> Okay.

[16:19] Thank you. >> So, we would offer two plan designs. We

[16:23] would offer an HMO, which has been very successful for

[16:27] us. >> Yeah.

[16:28] » And we'd offer one PPO, which is going to be more expensive. And we're going to

[16:31] get creative and try to find the employees the best, you know, cost

[16:34] sharing we can to keep insurance in the city. And that's where I'm going

[16:37] » So, depending on what they would select, the the employees of the city would have

[16:42] an option to stick with the base plan design just with the Blue Cross Blue

[16:45] Shield, and then they would also have an an option to put the difference card on

[16:49] top or do they have to do we have to pick one of those?

[16:52] » card automatically be on top. >> It'll automatically. Okay. Okay. So,

[16:55] they'll end up paying a little bit more for the difference card. However, it

[16:58] gets them on the back end it's it's better for them.

[17:01] » It's going to give them up front co-pays and stuff like that to help employees

[17:04] out. >> Yeah, I follow you.

[17:05] » So, they're they're they're tied together if we do it.

[17:07] » Yes. Okay. >> But, that's why we're

[17:11] you know, sorry we're calling a meeting on Thursday after Labor Day is

[17:14] if we decide to do this, it's going to take we're going to have to go to the

[17:17] employees to educate them on how this works.

[17:19] » Yeah. >> And then once they offer we decide what

[17:21] plan design they want with the Blue Cross / Difference Card, we have to put

[17:25] that into the Blue Cross system, and then the Difference Card got to build

[17:28] the plan design, and that takes another 10 to 12 days. So, we have two steps. We

[17:32] have a renewal, picking your Blue Cross plan,

[17:36] but then we have to send that to the Difference Card to build the cards for

[17:39] ready before October 1st for the employees.

[17:40] » Cuz cuz one thing about it also, you're y'all are I know y'all are still working

[17:45] with the Difference Card and Blue Cross and negotiating with them on trying to

[17:49] get that 766 a little bit further closer to that 750 as best we can, right? Okay,

[17:55] so there's still more discussions going on.

[17:57] » Yes, it is >> Okay. Okay.

[17:58] » getting creative on the plan design. >> Yeah.

[17:59] » So, we want to write what happens, you know, Difference Card if we raise the

[18:03] copay >> Right.

[18:04] » from 30 to 40, how much savings do we get?

[18:05] » Yeah, and try to lower it. Okay. >> So, that's

[18:08] » Playing with it. >> but Renee knows the maximum though.

[18:11] » Okay. >> liability we have on it.

[18:12] » Got it. >> Courtney, is the city comfortable with

[18:15] the 766? >> Yeah, I

[18:19] we can make it work with the the budget if that's where you're if

[18:23] that's what >> I'm asking.

[18:25] » No, but yes? >> No, [laughter] but yes.

[18:28] » It's not in the proposed budget right now.

[18:31] That's your finance director's probably panicking.

[18:34] As I tried to explain the earlier this morning,

[18:38] you've your your sales tax is set I would say pretty low in the proposed

[18:43] budget uh which gives you a little bit of room to

[18:46] be able to make that that number work. Um

[18:49] it will it will be difficult if sales tax decreases. Uh you you'll we will

[18:56] have to have a conversation sometime in the middle of the year as to what we

[18:59] will do if that happens, but um if you hold sales tax as what it is currently

[19:04] this year, then you can absolutely support the 766.

[19:11] Just can't predict what sales tax is going to do, unfortunately.

[19:15] » We don't We don't have a whole lot of choices here

[19:19] with the fact that too, we want to take care of the city employees and and and

[19:23] people that take care of our community. So, it's a

[19:26] It's a double-edged sword here. >> I can say this that y'all done some

[19:30] you know, some really hard work here,

[19:34] you know, trying to figure out exactly, you know, what the best choice is for

[19:38] the city. And uh you know, y'all y'all bringing this to

[19:41] the table for us as a committee, we did discuss, you

[19:45] know, all this and everything. And um we, you know,

[19:50] we really don't have much choice. We We need to

[19:52] I think we need to move forward with this. And get the ball rolling now.

[19:58] We can figure out exactly what we we need to do. So, uh

[20:02] you know, we're we're in a we're in a situation right now that

[20:06] we're trying to do the best thing for for the employees of the city. And

[20:10] I think uh you know, that's why we called a special

[20:13] call meeting and uh I think

[20:17] as as a council, I think uh we need to move forward. And get this

[20:22] going. >> I'd like to say this is the beauty of

[20:25] having an agent that cares about the city as well as the employees. He worked

[20:29] his tail off. Lauren.

[20:31] » He He done a lot of work. So. >> Thank you. And I

[20:34] want to say one more thing cuz I'm I'm looking at the employees and their

[20:37] friends and I'm worried about their families.

[20:40] paying the premiums, but we can also look at individual plans for the

[20:43] employees. Which means that, you know, I know we helped with the employees, but

[20:47] when we're looking at a premium of 3,800 for family, that's hard to stare at. You

[20:51] know, that's just That's not fair. But what happens if we

[20:55] do have families, when I say families, employees,

[20:58] spouse, employee, children, this is a full family. Uh there is a individual

[21:03] plan that might be a better deal for the family. So, So, can This is going to

[21:06] give us time to do is sit with these dependents or families and go, "Hey, if

[21:10] you're going to be on this plan, you're probably looking at X amount coming out

[21:13] of your check, but if we move you to an individual plan

[21:16] that's not under the city's plan, you know, maybe it's better for you to stay

[21:19] on the plan as the employee cuz the city pays the premium, but maybe it's a

[21:23] better deal for your dependent to get on individual plan because it's less

[21:27] expensive." Individual plans, it doesn't matter regardless of your health, it's

[21:31] the same quote for that for that age group, okay?

[21:35] So, if you're this age, it's this, it's this, it's this. So, for some of our

[21:38] city employees' families, you know, we don't want you off of the plan, but it

[21:42] might be a heck of a better deal instead of staring at a, you know, $1,000 for

[21:46] employee only, you know, rate to get the dependents on something like that. So,

[21:50] that's going to give us time to shop, sit individually with the employees and

[21:54] say, "Look, you know, you have two kids, maybe it's better to be on the plan. You

[21:57] have one kid, while we're going to pay $200 a month, we can do it for $300 on

[22:01] an individual plan." So, uh I appreciate the kind words, but that

[22:05] that's where I really want to get it into we can try hard to get what's right

[22:08] for the employees instead of just bringing this to you at the end of

[22:11] September and go, "Hey, I have no other option." And then we're stuck with it,

[22:13] so uh we're going to work with them

[22:15] one-on-one to try to help them. >> How do the employees understand this and

[22:19] uh make decisions like this? Who counsels with them or

[22:22] » It's a good question. Well, >> Is it self-education or how's it work?

[22:25] » Yeah, good question. Uh the way it's always worked, which has

[22:29] been beautiful, I'm sure everybody on campus thinks I'm getting arrested every

[22:32] day cuz we have cop cars at our office all the time. They will come in and sit

[22:36] with us one-on-one if they really want >> Okay.

[22:38] » Their families >> They come to you rather than somebody

[22:40] else. >> Yeah, we'll have normal office We'll

[22:41] have We're having normal meetings where we come out here. The difference part

[22:44] has offered to fly lady in for a couple of days to go over all, you know, how

[22:48] this part would work and stuff like that.

[22:50] But the beauty of this gets approved, which is not the best beautiful plan in

[22:54] the world, just going to be honest with you, is it's going to give us a almost a

[22:57] whole month to work with each employee one-on-one, and we will, and they will

[23:01] come by. Sometimes it'll be the it'll be the employee, sometimes it'll be the the

[23:05] wife usually that comes by. And we'll sit one-on-one with them and

[23:08] go, "Hey, here's what it would be if you're on the health plan. Here's what

[23:11] it would be if you go to individual plan. Here's the way it works." So,

[23:14] we'll do that. We can also do Zoom calls.

[23:17] Uh whatever we need to do for the city employees to to make it work.

[23:21] » And what do we do for retirees, somebody that retires from police department at

[23:25] 55 years old or something? Do we still cover them or what do they do

[23:27] differently? >> We don't. Okay.

[23:29] » not. >> So, what do they do for insurance? Just

[23:31] go find some individual plan? >> They usually get on Medicare.

[23:36] Or they find an individual plan. Yeah. We don't even offer it.

[23:41] » I didn't know. >> Usually when an an employee retires at

[23:44] age 65, they can get on Medicare Part A and then we talked to Mr. Hodges about

[23:48] » No, but at 55, say. >> Well, 55, they have to go pay for their

[23:51] own insurance on individual plan. >> Just didn't know.

[23:54] » Yes, sir. >> Beauty of John and I being on Medicare

[23:57] is our deductible is 250. >> Yeah. And this is something you know, we

[24:01] want every employee, regardless of their age, to feel comfortable that they are

[24:03] always welcome on our health plan. But when you turn 65, as you know, some

[24:07] of you might know, uh you get on Medicare Part A, which is

[24:10] your hospital insurance. You get on Medicare Part B, which is your

[24:12] outpatient, you know, and then copay to go to the doctor insurance.

[24:16] And that the beauty of that it's really not that expensive.

[24:19] » Right. >> And then you can get a Medicare

[24:21] supplement for about 150 bucks a month. And then you get a Medicare Part D for

[24:24] your prescription. So, basically, the average person on Medicare, your

[24:28] insurance is costing you about 250 a month.

[24:30] And that's all in. Like Mr. Hodges said, that's almost like no deductible, no

[24:34] nothing. So, Medicare is a great deal for people over 65. Okay? But what we

[24:40] got to make sure we know is any employee, regardless of their age, is

[24:42] always welcome on our health plan. I mean, we we don't we don't want to make

[24:45] anybody feel like it's not a good deal for them.

[24:48] And the one reason is because the city pays majority of the premiums. But at

[24:52] the same time, if you look at your premium versus the deductible you're

[24:54] going to be paying for this, you know, you have to weigh your options. So,

[24:57] again, that's why it's kind of important we get something done where we can sit

[25:01] with every individual and kind of come up with a plan for them. And some of

[25:04] them might be able to jump on their spouse's plan.

[25:07] Or [clears throat] at least move their kids to their spouse's plan.

[25:09] You know, they've been on the city's plan cuz it's been a really good

[25:11] premium, and now it's going up. Well, let me go look at, you know, my wife's

[25:15] plan and see if it's better with the school district or something to move

[25:17] little Johnny and Sue to that plan. So, this will give them time to make an

[25:21] educated decision on their health care. >> It's great that you're helping them.

[25:25] » Thank you, sir. >> Mayor, I move that we move forward with

[25:28] the approval of resolutions R-2026-49 as presented supporting the

[25:34] options to continue to negotiate on the difference score.

[25:40] » Second. >> We got a motion a second on the floor to

[25:44] approve resolution R-2026-49 as presented and to

[25:52] also go with the difference score. So,

[25:56] any discussion? All in favor?

[26:00] Motion passes.

[26:03] All right. At this time, this meeting is adjourned. I want to thank everybody for

[26:08] coming in. Thank you all very much. Have a great

[26:11] week.

City of El Campo City Council Special Called Meeting - September 8, 2026

Transcript