The county Road Commission is changing health insurance providers after the union workforce approved seeking a new carrier with lower costs.

At its meeting Tuesday, the commission on a 2-0 vote approved a letter of understanding that its unionized hourly workforce has approved switching health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to Priority Health. The union workforce is represented by the Governmental Employees Labor Council.

The Road Commission needed two motions to approve the change. The first motion, by vice-chairman John Popa to approve the letter of understanding and authorizing him to sign it, was supported by member Glen M. Noonan. However, Noonan voted against the measure, saying he wanted the workers to understand that switching from Blue Cross to Priority Health could mean more changes than what is expected.

Manager/supervisor Herb Cradduck and clerk Joe Nedow both said the workers had met with insurance provider representatives and had all their options explained. Cradduck also pointed out that in the existing labor contract, if workers bring a request to the Road Commission to change providers and that switch results in a cost savings, the commission is required to approve the change.

Noonan said he was not aware of that language. Popa made the same motion for a second time, it was approved 2-0.

Road Commissioner Lee Bowen was on vacation and absent from the meeting. He was also absent for the previous two Road Commission meetings held Feb. 5 and 19.

As part of the letter of understanding, the Road Commission will terminate its participation with Blue Cross effective April 1, and will be applying for a new health insurance policy with Priority Health. The new policy will be good for one year.

Cradduck said that some of the union workforce would have faced paying more than $200 a month extra to continue using the Blue Cross insurance. Under the existing union contract, the Road Commission pays the monthly premiums for each worker up to a certain amount. For workers enrolled in the family plan, the cap is $1,200 a month. The cap is $1,000 for a two-person plan, and $600 for a one-person plan.

Prescription drug coverage also had an impact. For those in the closed formulary plan, in which generic drugs are preferred over brand names, there is currently no additional cost. Workers enrolled in the open formulary plan, in which there is no preference for generics, pay $85 a month for the family plan and $77 a month for the two-person plan. There is no additional cost for a worker enrolled in the single-person plan.

Nedow said that in mid-fall 2007, Blue Cross sent a notice to the Road Commission indicating that costs for maintaining the existing health insurance plan would increase significantly. The Road Commission notified the worker’s local union representative, Ken Nash, as Nedow began exploring options for health insurance. He gave the new information to union stewards for distribution.

Nedow and Cradduck both said Tuesday that if union workers had stayed with the Blue Cross plan, most workers would have faced significant cost increases. For a worker enrolled in the family plan with an open prescription drug formulary, the cost would be $297 a month on top of the $1,200 a month the Road Commission is paying. “There would be similar increases for those enrolled in the two-person and single-person plans as well,” Nedow said. “For guys making $15 to $16 an hour, and extra $300 a month is a big chunk,” he said.

Nedow did not have exact costs for the new Priority Health plan. He said that based on a preliminary review, the cost for each worker’s plan would be just under the Road Commission’s cap for each plan level.