{"id":51927,"date":"2023-05-17T06:58:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wrfalp.net\/?p=51927"},"modified":"2023-05-17T06:58:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T10:58:55","slug":"stop-gap-insurance-costs-expected-to-rise-37-in-2024-for-jamestown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/stop-gap-insurance-costs-expected-to-rise-37-in-2024-for-jamestown\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop Gap Insurance Costs Expected to Rise 37% in 2024 for Jamestown"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_51928\" style=\"width: 385px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrfalp.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51928\" data-attachment-id=\"51928\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/stop-gap-insurance-costs-expected-to-rise-37-in-2024-for-jamestown\/ecklund-city-council-5-15-23\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?fit=506%2C395&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"506,395\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;SM-G973U1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1684181457&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ecklund City Council 5-15-23\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Council member at large Kim Ecklund reads out finance committee resolutions (May 15, 2023)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?fit=300%2C234&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?fit=506%2C395&amp;ssl=1\" class=\" wp-image-51928\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wrfalp.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?resize=375%2C293&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"375\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?w=506&amp;ssl=1 506w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?resize=300%2C234&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-51928\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Council member at large Kim Ecklund reads out finance committee resolutions (May 15, 2023)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Stop gap insurance costs are expected to rise 37% next year for the City of Jamestown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>City Council<\/strong> Finance Chair <strong>Kim Ecklund<\/strong> reported out that City Clerk <strong>Jennifer Williams<\/strong> and former City Comptroller <strong>Joe Bellitto<\/strong> have met with bid applicants to provide the city an Annual Stop Loss Program.<\/p>\n<p>She said they both recommended staying with <strong>Highmark<\/strong>, who is the current administrator and insurance carrier, &#8220;Unfortunately, the increase is 37% for a budget increase of $160,521 for next year. So, all these times I keep saying we&#8217;ve got these increases, this was a pretty significant one. I was expecting to see an increase, I&#8217;m not going to lie, but I wasn&#8217;t expecting to see 37% for $160,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ecklund said there was a higher deductible offered by Highmark but Bellitto did not recommend that option.<\/p>\n<p>She said the increase is due to cost of doing business and that there are five people on the plan whose medical costs have passed the stop loss amount of $175,000.<\/p>\n<p>A resolution for accepting the bid by Highmark for a Stop Loss Program is expected to appear on the May 22 voting agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stop gap insurance costs are expected to rise 37% next year for the City of Jamestown. City Council Finance Chair Kim Ecklund reported out that City Clerk Jennifer Williams and former City Comptroller Joe Bellitto have met with bid applicants to provide the city an Annual Stop Loss Program. She said they both recommended staying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":51928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[10627,1122,10140,1240,1365],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Ecklund-City-Council-5-15-23.jpg?fit=506%2C395&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-dvx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56265,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/mayor-elect-ecklund-is-working-on-transition-plans\/","url_meta":{"origin":51927,"position":0},"title":"Mayor-Elect Ecklund Is Working On Transition Plans","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"December 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Mayor-Elect Kim Ecklund is deep into her transition plans to take over leading the City of Jamestown in the new year. Ecklund said as of December 12, she has retired after 34 years from her position with eSolutions Furniture, formerly known as Bush Industries. She also has put together her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Local News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Kim-Ecklund-Mayor-feat.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Kim-Ecklund-Mayor-feat.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Kim-Ecklund-Mayor-feat.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Kim-Ecklund-Mayor-feat.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Kim-Ecklund-Mayor-feat.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56291,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/city-council-amends-2024-budget-to-fix-1-59-million-hole-in-chips-line\/","url_meta":{"origin":51927,"position":1},"title":"City Council Amends 2024 Budget To Fix $1.59 Million Hole In CHIPS Line","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"December 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamestown City Council approved several amendments to the 2024 budget, including fixing a $1.59 million hole in the CHIPS line. City Council Finance Chair and Mayor-Elect Kim Ecklund said there were three budget amendments approved, \u201cSome of the other movement that we feel we\u2019re probably short in is retirement and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Local News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/City-Council-12-18-23.jpg?fit=850%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/City-Council-12-18-23.jpg?fit=850%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/City-Council-12-18-23.jpg?fit=850%2C490&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/City-Council-12-18-23.jpg?fit=850%2C490&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51380,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/jamestown-city-council-hold-lengthy-discussion-on-hiring-new-fire-fighters\/","url_meta":{"origin":51927,"position":2},"title":"Jamestown City Council Holds Lengthy Discussion on Hiring New Fire Fighters","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"April 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamestown City Council members voice concern over costs and future layoffs on the issue of whether to hire eight new firefighters. Council was provided by former City Comptroller Joe Bellitto the estimated costs to the city for hiring the firefighters as well as the estimates of costs once a three-year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Local News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ecklund-Council-4-17-23-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ecklund-Council-4-17-23-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ecklund-Council-4-17-23-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ecklund-Council-4-17-23-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Ecklund-Council-4-17-23-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C719&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55855,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/jamestown-city-council-passes-40-15-million-budget-no-tax-increase\/","url_meta":{"origin":51927,"position":3},"title":"Jamestown City Council Passes $40.15 Million Budget, No Tax Increase","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"November 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jamestown City Council has approved a $40.15 million 2024 budget that includes no tax increase. 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The ceremony was held on Monday in City Council Chambers in City Hall. Ecklund is the first Republican woman to serve as the city's top executive. The late Carolyn Seymour, a Democrat, served as mayor from 1992\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Local News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Local News","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/category\/news\/local-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Kim-Ecklund-Swearing-In-1-1-24.jpg?fit=810%2C748&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Kim-Ecklund-Swearing-In-1-1-24.jpg?fit=810%2C748&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Kim-Ecklund-Swearing-In-1-1-24.jpg?fit=810%2C748&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Kim-Ecklund-Swearing-In-1-1-24.jpg?fit=810%2C748&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56175,"url":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/jamestowns-2024-budget-may-have-2-5-million-shortfall\/","url_meta":{"origin":51927,"position":5},"title":"Jamestown&#8217;s 2024 Budget May Have Between a $1.5 and $2.5 Million Shortfall","author":"WRFA Radio","date":"December 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The City of Jamestown's 2024 budget may have between a $1.5 and $2.5 million shortfall. 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