[July 29, 2011] Appomattox School Board: Insurance switch will save $50k Tweet Jul 29, 2011 (The News & Advance - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Appomattox County Schools officials say a switch to a new insurance provider for employees will save the division an estimated $50,000. School board members voted Thursday to adopt Piedmont Community Health Plan as the division's carrier for Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012. Director of Business Steve Edwards expects county supervisors will also adopt PCHP. In recent years, he said, the county has joined with school division, which has more employees, to purchase insurance from the division's long-term provider, Anthem. After Anthem announced that the division's costs would increase by 15 percent, officials decided to look at different possibilities for insurance coverage. School and county administrators worked together to evaluate the proposals they received. Under the PCHP plan, the actual cost to the division will increase by about 5 or 6 percent from last year he said, but that is less than the 15 percent increase expected if the division remained with Anthem, resulting in the $50,000 savings. Edwards said that the savings came from securing a better deal, rather than weakening employee benefits overall. "Piedmont seems to be very aggressive in wanting Appomattox and Appomattox County schools," he said. The plan would have required increased contributions from employees, but the school division said it will cover those costs, about $35 per employee. That cost is factored into the 5 to 6 percent increase. School Board Member Wesley Williams asked Edwards if employees would be limited to Lynchburg General Hospital because of PCHP provider networks. Edwards said that his understanding is that employ-ees could potentially go to another hospital, such as University of Virginia Medical Center, if that were the recommendation of their doctor. To see more of The News & Advance, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.newsadvance.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The News & Advance, Lynchburg, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]