After a barrage of questions about which health insurance company was giving the county a better deal, it came down to the bottom line for Hamilton County commissioners.
Commissioners voted Thursday to switch from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee to Cigna after being told it would save taxpayers roughly $2.5 million over three years without changing the level of service to employees.
But they made it clear that, if they even get a whiff of the problems the county had with Cigna before – primarily bad customer service – they will terminate the contract.
“You don’t have to get as bad as you were before for me to make a motion [to terminate],” Commissioner Fred Skillern told Cigna representatives who attended Thursday’s meeting. “You just start in that direction and I’m ready to make a motion.”
The contract has a 60-day out clause, Cigna Vice President of Sales Brent Wick said.