Health insurance deductibles will double for Butler County employees as officials try to avoid a 29 percent increase in premiums.
The United Health Care policy will see a less than 10 percent bump with an agreement that raises employee deductibles to $1,000 a year, said presiding commissioner Vince Lampe.
County employees recently completed open enrollment for the new policy.
Commissioners say changes in deductibles come in what will likely be the third straight year without a raise for employees.
"This (insurance increase) is another example of our cost to do business getting higher and higher and there's no way to offset it," said eastern district commissioner Butch Anderson.
The county currently pays $481.15 per employee, per month. By agreeing to a higher deductible, the rate will instead be $526.14.
Renewal of the existing policy would have cost $620.61.
"We've got to figure out some way to squeeze our budget," said Lampe. "I sure don't want to send people home, but we're getting closer every day.
"It is a constant battle."
County-paid health insurance premiums are expected to be approximately $900,000 in the next year.
This makes up about 5 percent of the county's annual spending of approximately $16 million.
Additional costs of more than $200,000 a year come from a co-insurance policy and critical illness policy, which the county also provides to employees.
The UHC policy comes with an initial deductible of $5,000 a year for a single person and $10,000 a year for a family. A co-insurance policy through MediHOP will reduce the deductible to the final $1,000 a year.
MediHOP costs $135 per employee, per month, with a charge of up to $325 monthly for a family policy. The critical illness policy is $7.45 per employee, per month.
The county pays full premiums for about 80 law enforcement and courthouse staff members. These are employee only policies.
It pays 75 percent of premiums for about 30 union members of the county highway department. This includes the employee's premium, as well as any family members.