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Chambers County Commission approved modifications to the current health insurance plan for current and future employees upon retirement through the current Local Government Health Insurance Plan (LGHIP).

According to the plan, eligible employees who retire with the county on or after Oct. 1 will be eligible for the new policy. 

To be eligible for the retirement medical and health insurance coverage, employees must have been employed for 25 years with Chambers County as a full-time employee at the same participation expense as a current full-time employee.

Two clarifications were made to the policy at the meeting. The first clarified that the 25 years of service to the county is cumulative rather than consecutive. The other change allows for employees to qualify for health insurance after 10 years of service once they reach age 65. This means that employees hired by at least 50 or younger will be eligible for coverage by the time they reach retirement age. 

Many people that Harvill recruits are in the mid-40s to late 50s range, those who are looking for a second career that provides better hours and more health benefits. That benefits package at Chambers County is already competitive but this change will make a big difference, especially for his crew. 

“That has always been a strong recruiting tool and retention tool for the county commission, not only to retain employees so hopefully that they get to 25 years, but also to recruit prospective employees,” he said. 

Harvill said that after analyzing the new policy, they found that if everyone who qualified retired this year, the new policy would cost the county less than $10,000 total. In five years, it would only cost the county around $37,000. 

“That’s less than it costs for a full-time employee. So it makes sense to do this if we can keep experienced and skilled people,” Harvill said. “And that was kind of the goal behind the policy.”