Somerset Seeks To Control Health Costs

Beset by rising costs despite having its own insurance program, Somerset County is looking for advice on how to control health care costs.

The Cooper Group of New York is expected to report early next year on "whether or not our self-insurance program is as low-cost as it could be," Somerset Finance Director Brian Newman said yesterday.

The county saves roughly $250,000 to $300,000, largely in administrative costs, by running its own program through Oxford Health Plans, Newman said. The costs are slightly less than options under the state's program, he said.

But like other government entities across New Jersey, Somerset sees continually rising insurance costs. Over the past five years, the county's budget for health care has risen 10 percent to 14.3 percent a year. At more than $12.1 million, this year's total was slightly more than twice the 1993 figure.

Looking back yesterday on a year's stint as freeholder director, Richard Fontana sees insurance costs as a major problem area as the board begins 2006 budget discussions this week with county department heads.

While not necessarily dissatisfied with Oxford, Newman said the Cooper review is looking at whether the company's benefits package remains the best buy for the county's 1,400 employees.

"The issue tends to be whether our medical patterns, for lack of a better word, are best served through a program that offers greater discounts in hospital care or in the community with doctors and other providers," he said.

"The numbers are sufficiently fluid" that changes in the number of workers with major medical conditions can alter the annual costs significantly, Newman said.

The county has done its best to cut costs elsewhere, broadening its shared-service initiatives to include new partners and even new buildings, Fontana said.

One example is a complex in Bernards Township with the Visiting Nurses Association, scheduled to start construction shortly and be completed late next year, he said.

The county's part of the project will provide 8,000 square feet of space to replace a senior citizens center in Bernardsville that was "too small," said county Administrator Richard Williams. The county also is in the process of completing a deal to allow for joint facilities in Bridgewater. The county's growing "meals on wheels" program will share space with the Adult Day Care Association, he said.

Today, the Somerset Business Partnership is scheduled to honor the freeholders and local legislators for making the county "a model for cooperative planning and shared services." This year, the efforts helped local towns and school boards avoid $13.7 million in costs, according to the group.

Not all of that directly involves the county, Fontana said. But a new county public works garage in Bridgewater will be shared with Bound Brook, whose old building was swamped by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, he said.