BETHEL — Bethel is considering raising the cost of health care for city employees by more than $100 a month in hopes of cutting down on a general fund deficit.
Bethel City Manager Anne Capela has drafted a document that would have employees pay $160 a month for health care, a sharp increase from the $600 a year that employees currently pay, according to KYUK-AM.
She said the plan would bring Bethel more in line with what other areas of rural Alaska pay for insurance.
Currently, Bethel has some of the least expensive health insurance in the area. Fairbanks city employees pay about $150 a month on average, according to their city finance department.
Bethel employees pay about $50 a month. Nome workers pay nothing monthly but have a much larger deductible of $2,000 to $4,000.
The proposed plan in Bethel would also include a $1,000 deductible, something Bethel currently doesn’t have.
Capela said the proposal came in response to changes required by President Barack Obama’s health care law, the increasing cost of care and the city’s lack of funds.
“It’s like running your house. If you can’t afford the penthouse, you gotta move down to the basement,” Capela said.
Bethel used to rely on state funding for infrastructure projects but with the current budget shortage the city has had to turn to its own general fund. Bethel currently is facing a $500,000 shortage in its $5 million general fund.
“The state is not going to give us any capital money,” Capela said. “So any trucks, anything the city needs for infrastructure, has to come from the small pot of money of sales tax.”
Bethel officials will consider the proposal at the next city council meeting.
