Consultant for City Will Look into Rising Drug Costs
Posted on: Saturday, 10 September 2005, 00:00 CDT
Charleston City Council has hired a consultant to look into increasing prescription drug costs for city retirees.
More than 300 retired city workers could face changes in their plans as a way to curb costs.
Council on Tuesday hired Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Co. to study the city's options. City officials must decide in the next month or two how to deal with 321 retirees age 65 or older who will be eligible for coverage under a new Medicare drug plan.
Earlier Tuesday, Ron Walters of RN Walters & Associates told Finance Committee members the city has three options: continue retiree coverage under the current plan and apply for a 28 percent Medicare subsidy; shift the retirees into the Medicare plan; or shift the retirees and subsidize their coverage under Medicare.
Current drug costs to the city for the retirees run nearly $800,000 and are likely to rise, Walters said. Shifting retirees to Medicare will save the city money and paperwork, but retirees would have to pay more out of pocket, he said. Finance Committee members agreed to apply for a 30-day extension to the Sept. 30 Medicare deadline for choosing a drug plan while the consultants study the options.
Also Tuesday, council agreed to spend $44,865 to buy a global positioning system for the city police department. The system includes 40 GPS units for police cruisers and 15 workstation units for supervisors.
Police Chief Brent Webster said he has been eager to buy the system, which is being paid for through a 2004 Local Law Enforcement Block Grant.
"All the patrol cars in the traffic division will be equipped with these things," he said.
In other business, council passed a resolution honoring mayoral assistant Rod Blackstone, the "Toastman," for the spirit he brought to baseball games at Watt Powell Park. They gave him a set of four yellow seats from the old park, the choice seats he used to occupy behind home plate as a season ticket holder. Others will have to bid for such seats at a city auction to be held later.
-30
Source: Charleston Daily Mail
Related Articles
- Picking Medicare Drug Plans Still Tough
- Medicare Drug Plan Gap a Pain in the Pocketbook
- A Final Push for Medicare Drug Plan
- New York Plan Shifts Low-Income Seniors to Medicare Drug Plan
- Medicare Drug Plan Starts Amid Many Hassles for Consumers, Pharmacists
- Pharmacies Prepare for Start of Medicare Drug Plan
- Study Surveys Large Firms About New Medicare Drug Plan
- Medicare's Drug Plan Hits the Road
- Medicare Drug Plan Website is Not Yet Ready
- National Organizations Start Education, Ad Campaign for Medicare Drug Plan
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds