Keep doing the best you can Mrs. Dean. Everyone has the right to post their opinion, but deeznadds (I can't believe the website let you get away with that username) is attacking Mrs. Dean as a person. It is always easy to sit in front of a computer tapping out accusations anonymously, but difficult to hold a job, have your picture plastered on the paper, and stand by your word. Mrs. Dean is an accountable person in her work life, as well as her personal life.

If the County's self-insurance plan is so great, then if should fare very well against any private insurance company that would care to submit a bid for the business. All that is needed is for the County to actually put it out for bids. Either the self-insurance plan can underbid private insurance companies or it cannot. DaleZuck's proposal to give employees a choice of three levels of coverage for three different premiums has real merit. Each employee would be empowered to choose the level of coverage they want, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, which makes no more sense than Obamacare, i.e. none.

FYI Citizens employees are not considered county employees. Their insurance plan is one of the worst I have ever heard of. High deductible and limited coverage (does not even cover childhood shots).

What does the National Health care has to do with this?

Well let me be the first to say that this self health insurance for Victoria County has been going on for years. Joyce Dean has spear headed the insurance part for the past several years. Failing at every turn. Promising employees better health services and stating that it would be cost effective. Three years and some change later she has failed and so has the commissioners court. Cost effective? to who Mrs Dean? The people of the county suffer because you pay boon chapman hundreds of thousands of dollars and the county is self insured? Why are county employees and police officers suffering from poor management and decision making by Joyce Dean and the commsioners court? Read the paper this week. They cant even balance a budget. If you want to cut the budget and trim some pork, try with Mrs Deans salary because she makes a whole lot of money than a regular human resource person should. If you wouldl ike to see the salary of some of these decision makers go to http://www.victoriacountytx.org/. Look uo the 2009 or 2010 budget and see where tax payers money is going to

notamorningperson: Get rid of Boon Chapman and get back to a fully funded plan. I have never liked Boon Chapman. It is expensive and they are hard to work with. Get back to BCBS or Aetna

How much does the County pay Boon Chapman out of the 1,938,000 (Dale Zuck) it spends on health insurance. And how much does BCBS or Aetna charge?

Get rid of Boon Chapman and get back to a fully funded plan. I have never liked Boon Chapman. It is expensive and they are hard to work with. Get back to BCBS or Aetna. Premiums might be slightly high but you (employer AND employee) will save money in the long run.

You guys should stop complaining cuz one the health care we have now isnt as good as it was supposed to be. also the law has just been signed give it a try u guys are too hard on democrats they went to college and we voted for most of these people.so if u want to say u have the right to choose tell that to ur congress men or state official. as for obama people are just tryin to make it look like america made a mistake he has done things to help us and we had a full 8 years of a terrible president and i will be so as happy as ever when a obama fixes bush's mistakes. You can find full medical coverage at the lowest price from http://bit.ly/chE6zp . obama has to put up with the world judging his every move and trying to fix the mess we are in we are lucky anyone wants to be our president. STOP COMPLAINING AND GIVE HIM A BREAK. i wanna see one of yall do what he has done. some people are just so ignorant.

I must be missing something, BUT:

1. We have the county government lamenting the lack of funds to insure its employees.
2. We have the, county owned, Citizen's Medical Center building new jogging trails around its healthplex, building new parking garages, buying up all the land and houses around its campus and planting St. Augustine grass. .... ?

If the hospital is such a profit center ... what or who determines how those profits are used?

God bless Obama-Care!!! Our county employees, especially those at the SO deserve FREE healthcare!

Self insuring???? Very risky. What would happen if a tornado, fire, or hurricane hit? How about a terrorist attack or chemical release? How about some new virus affecting our LOCAL population. Hard to believe we are going down this road.

Dale Zuck

If you were a county employee would you refuse your insurance?

For one im not an employee of the county...Although our county employees deserve their benefits, County Commissioners please don't cut benefits of the workers.. I really don't care if my taxes go up $100 a year our county workers deserve their benefits.

A free employee clinic and and a plan that requires zero doctor office co-pays?

What a great plan.

The best idea. Victoria County has no business trying to be an insurance company. Let the companies compete for your business. Let local agents represent you and work for your employees doing claim work and enrollment. Let the insurance companies suck up the loss and profit if they can.

When you decide to get out of the insurance business: offer three different plans: a) high deductible no frill plan that protects the employee from big claims. This is lower cost and employer pays the tab. b) a $1500 deductible with doctor office copays 3x/yr and perhaps a maximum $5000/ year stop loss; c) $200 a month paid to the employee to purchase their own individual health plan.

The 2010 budget shows that $1,938,000 was budgeted for health insurance. There are 620 employees according to the VEDC. (If all employees are on the health plan, and they probably aren't, that provides a budgeted cost of $260/m per employee. The budget lists dependents in another category). I do not know the demographics but doing a SWAG the three options above should provide the employees an ok health plan and protect the employee and taxpayers.