Board of Commissioners Approves Broadband Funding, Hears Update on County's Health Insurance Plan
At its September 3, 2024 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved a revised funding allocation for the State's Completing Access to Broadband (CAB) program. As part of this process, the State awarded a broadband infrastructure project to Bellsouth Telecommunications for fiber expansion, and Buncombe County is required to provide a financial match based on statutory guidance. Staff have identified two sources to resolve the funding shortage to proceed with the CAB program. Through the reallocation of ARPA funds and Medicaid Hold-Harmless Funds, a funding match of $411,408 has been identified to support Broadband Infrastructure Expansion focused on the Leicester, Newfound, Hominy, and Swannanoa communities of Buncombe County. The Board approved the reallocation of these funds to support the Buncombe-Bellsouth Broadband Project and commended the staff for continuing to seek opportunities for broadband expansion throughout Buncombe County. Click here for the full presentation.
Commissioners also received an update from USI Insurance Services, the County’s health insurance benefit plan consultant. At the six-month mark in the 2024-2025 calendar year, medical and RX claims costs are 4.6% higher than originally forecasted. Considering the balance between protecting a comprehensive health care plan that is experiencing long-term rising costs and the responsibility to be good stewards of public funds, staff proposed that the County cover $1.4 million of the forecasted $1.8 million rise in costs while working with health care plan participants to cover the remaining $400,000. Staff identified potential opportunities for covering this gap though increasing some biweekly premium costs, increasing the Standard Plan co-insurance rate, and by removing Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs prescribed for weight loss (such as Wegovy) from the plan. Over the past year, the County spent more than $400,000 on GLPs prescribed for non-diabetic use, making GLPs the County’s highest traditional drug expenditure. Commissioners will vote at the Sept. 17 regular meeting.
Click here to view the full meeting on Facebook. More information can be found at www.buncombecounty.org/commissioners.