Douglas County commissioners ensured themselves access to county health insurance into retirement, but are refusing to afford their successors the same flexibility.

The county’s current elected officials will retain their ability to stay in the government’s health-insurance program for the rest of their lives, provided they pay the same premiums charged of other county retirees, commissioners decided Monday.

But in future years, the county’s elected officials — commissioners, sheriff, register of deeds, treasurer, clerk and district attorney — will have to meet higher standards if they intend to reap health coverage subsidized by county taxpayers:

• Each official must have served at least eight years in office.
• When leaving office, the official must be of qualified retirement age. The age will vary depending on which retirement program is involved; the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, for example, permits retirement once an employee’s age and years of service add up to 85.

The shift is intended to close the eligibility gap between elected officials and regular employees.

Until Monday’s decision, commissioners and other elected officials simply needed to serve four years in their part-time office to maintain county health insurance as county “retirees.” That differed from retiring appraisers, zoning officers, sheriff’s deputies and other hired employees, who were required to be on the payroll for at least 10 years to be eligible.

Bob Johnson, commission chairman, said the shift would be more equitable for the county as a whole.

“It’s not a matter of right or wrong,” said Johnson, a retired insurance executive. “It’s a matter of managing your health plan.”

Commissioners also discussed the prospects for increasing each retiree’s share of insurance premiums, effective in January. The current monthly premium of $230 would increase to $236 in January and to $242 in June 2004, to add stability to an “arbitrary” premium rate established a few years ago, officials said.

“I think it’s fair,” Johnson said. “I think it’s equitable.”

Current employees pay $25 a month for insurance coverage through the county.

The shift in retiree rates — as recommended by a committee of county employees — will be up for formal approval within a few weeks, commissioners said.

Also Monday, commissioners:

• Approved a contract with QualiCare Inc., 2336 Ridge Court, to provide pharmaceuticals for inmates at the Douglas County Jail.
• Agreed to negotiate with SBC Communications for long-distance telephone service.
• Agreed to buy computers from Western States Contracting Alliance. By canceling the county’s contract with Microtech Computers Inc., 4921 Legends Drive, county officials expect to save about $1,500 this year and face fewer computer problems.
• Agreed to hire Anderson Interiors, for $14,900, to install 71 draperies and related hardware at the Douglas County Courthouse and Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. Some of the drapes to be replaced are at least 30 years old, said Craig Weinaug, county administrator.
• Agreed to urge Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to advocate for the county’s exclusion from an air quality district being considered for the Kansas City metro area by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Discussed prospects for future sewer services at Lone Star Lake, and agreed to review options for water-quality testing and other possibilities in the months ahead.