Tiffany Revelle
Staff Writer
LAKE COUNTY ? The gargantuan Universal Health Care Bill, SB 840, could translate to as much as a 52 percent cut to the County of Lake”s cost in providing health insurance to about half of its employees, according to Administrative Analyst Doug Willardson.
The county currently allocates roughly $3.2 million for health care in the county”s General Fund, according to Willardson”s June 28 memo to Chief County Administrator Kelly Cox. That provides a flat $800 to employees in General Fund departments, which according to Willardson”s estimate includes about half of the county”s employees.
A proposed income tax of 3.78 percent to be garnered by the employer ? in this case, the County of Lake ? would replace that, said Willardson. The tax would be levied on yearly wages over $7,000 but less than $200,000. For incomes over the latter figure, a 1 percent tax would apply. The key is a tax employers will pay of 8.17 percent on wages, per worker, between those two figures.
Willardson explained that the $7,000 threshold means that county General Fund employees” wages up to that amount, per employee, are tax-exempt. Willardson calculates in his report that with 438 such employees, the county could deduct nearly $3.1 million from its total General Fund payroll of just under $22 million, leaving an $18.9 million taxable balance. The 8.17 percent tax taken out of that amount is approximately $1.5 million, less than half of the county”s allocated health care budget.
So what does that mean for the cost of health care coverage?
In addition to the $800 flat amount paid for each employee by the county, employees also have the option of paying a flat rate ranging between $290.34 and $627.17 monthly for insurance, regardless of family size or earnings. Willardson explained that for a single employee, that monthly coverage is currently free.
Under the Universal Health Care Bill now up for presidential signature or veto, a county employee earning $40,000 per year would pay $103.95 monthly for coverage, by Willardson”s calculation. Those figures would apply to County of Lake employees covered under Blue Shield, which he reports is approximately 99 percent.
The county Board of Supervisors voted July 17 to send a letter to the legislature expressing support for the legislation in concept. The vote was 4 – 1, with Dist. 5 Supervisor Rob Brown in dissent.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
