The Doctor Comes to You

Buying the Farm

It wasn’t so much a sarcastic comment to Jim Carnicella, human resources director for the city of Ocoee, a small town in central Florida. The cost of the city’s health plan that covers 700 employees and their families rose by 20 percent last year — up to $2.4 million — putting a serious dent in tax dollars that could go to other services like police and education.

Carnicella talked the City Council into self-funding its insurance plan, basically paying the full cost of medical claims and carrying stop-loss insurance that kicks in once the city spends $50,000 a year. Based on six months of this already, the move will likely save — “You’re not going to believe this,” he told me — roughly $700,000 in medical costs this year.

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