Blue Cross agrees to freeze rates for one year

Franklin County commissioners got a little good financial news this week. Gary Barber, the county’s health insurance agent, told county commissioners that Blue Cross will freeze its rates at current levels for another year. The company had proposed raising its rates by 8 percent for the next budget year but county commissioners asked their agent to negotiate a lower price. By keeping rates the same the county will save about 65 thousand dollars on its health insurance rates during the next budget year which runs from October the 1st to September the 30th. Mister Barber said he was very surprised that Blue Cross agreed to freeze their rates – he said the trend in the health insurance industry is to raise rates by about 13 percent a year – he called this the biggest cut he’s ever seen. County commissioners, however, said they would like to see if they can save even more and asked Mister Barber to approach Blue Cross about actually lowering their rates instead of just freezing them at the current levels. The county said during the next year it will also likely seek bids from other companies to see if that could bring health care costs down even more. At this time Blue Cross is the best choice because most local doctors are in the Blue Cross network.