By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

The Joplin City Council has given its OK to the city staff to explore joining a health-insurance pool offered through the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Doug Jenkins, of Jenkins and Associates, an insurance consultant from Springfield, told the council at a work session Wednesday that 91 local businesses have expressed interest in joining the pool, called the Joplin Area Health Insurance Association.

The city’s 430 employees, spouses and children who enroll for health insurance would be the largest group in the pool if the city goes ahead, Jenkins said. The pool would need 1,000 people in order to proceed. He said there are no guarantees on how many businesses would participate once his firm obtains rates for coverage. Those rates should come in June, and the city then could decide whether to stay in the pool.

Joplin last fiscal year scrapped its Anthem health-care plan after the company wanted to charge an 18 percent increase in premiums. The city rebid the insurance plan at the last minute and found an insurer, United Healthcare, that cost less but with increased deductibles.

The city’s finance director, Leslie Jones, told the council that joining the consortium likely would not prevent future premium increases, but it could stabilize the amount and perhaps keep coverage about the same.

Jenkins told the council that increases to other consortiums represented by his firm amounted to about 10 percent.

Asked by a council member if the consortium could offer employees their choice of providers, Jenkins said he had asked the two local hospitals to participate in open choice. St. John’s Regional Medical Center agreed, and Freeman Health System did not, he said.

Wes Braman, director of managed health care for Freeman Health System, said in an e-mail response Thursday: “Freeman Health System has been involved in discussions with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce about their potential healthcare plans for small businesses. While Freeman would be interested in participating in a plan for (the consortium), none of the insurance carriers we partner with are interested in bidding on it at this time.”

One of the consortium’s current plans is comparable in coverage with what city employees have now, though employees would have to switch from Freeman-affiliated services to those affiliated with St. John’s.

Jones said that while city employees were reluctant to change providers last year, they likely would understand the need to possibly change providers in order to keep costs stable and retain benefits.

Track record