Butler County will pay nearly 21 percent more for employee health insurance over the next year.
The UnitedHealthcare policy will see costs go from $526.14 per employee, per month, to $643.70.
Changes became effective this month, said county clerk Tonyi Deffendall.
The county expects to pay $1.22 million to cover premiums in the next year, an increase of $208,200.
"When we saw this was going up so much, (commissioners) very quickly looked at a self insurance company some of the other counties have, but the commissioners just didn't have time to research it," Deffendall said of the short span between receiving the new quote and the renewal deadline. "Our broker shops it out every year. This year, there were several companies that declined to even quote us."
Officials avoided a 29 percent increase in premiums in 2017 by doubling deductible costs. Premiums increased less than 10 percent in 2017.
Employees will not see changes to their plans this year, Deffendall said.
Health insurance premiums make up about 5 percent of all county expenses, which are expected to be $23.35 million in 2018.
The county pays full premiums for 92 law enforcement and courthouse staff members. These are employee-only policies.
It pays 75 percent of premiums for 24 union members of the county highway department. This includes the employee's premium, as well as any family members.
The county pays additional costs of approximately $274,400 for co-insurance and critical illness policies for 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 reduces the deductible to $1,000 a year.
MediHOP costs were $142.45 per employee, per month. They will increase to $162.70, with a charge of up to $381.20 for a family policy.