Too many questions, too little time.

The Lawrence County Commission Thursday opted to stay with Medical Mutual Insurance for its employees' health insurance coverage. This came in spite of a last-minute presentation from the County Employees Benefit Consortium, a self-insurance fund operated by the County Commission Association of Ohio.

Three members of CEBCO outlined their plan to the commissioners at their regular monthly meeting. But commissioners said in the end, the deadline for turning in a proposal was last week, so it would not have been fair to consider the CEBCO proposal now. The lateness of the proposal also made it hard to evaluate the benefits of the plan - the county deducts each employee's portion of their premium a month in advance, so January's premiums are taken out in December.

Commissioners also said they had too many questions about how the plan works to change course now.

CEBCO is a not-for-profit joint insurance pool that allows counties across the state to pool together as one insurance unit. Anthem Insurance is the vendor for the self- insurance group.

Under the CEBCO plan, the county would agree to be a member for three years. Rates would increase based on the previous year's activity.

Program manager Maggie McNeely said

"We needed this last week," Commissioner Doug Malone said. "I'm tickled they came and I think this will help hold rates down (overall), but right now there are too many open ends for me to strongly consider it. But I am glad we heard them."

Malone said he was concerned that premiums could be increased in the middle of the year. This is a large consideration for Lawrence County with its restrictive budget.

He said he is also apprehensive because so few self-insurance entities have been successful.

Both Malone and Commissioner Jason Stephens are both insurance agents. Stephens also expressed concerns that the CEBCO plan may not work well for the county. He agreed with Malone that he is uncomfortable with the lack of a cap on premiums. He had other concerns as well.

"There's no quote on commission, so it would be our responsibility to find a broker. And when you do a cost comparison, their plan is four to five percent less, but I don't know that the risk is worth the savings," Stephens said. He also said it was not fair that CEBCO handed in quotes a week later than Brown-Raybourn and Associates, the county's current carrier. "I'm pleased with the plan we've got. We're familiar with Medical Mutual and I think the employees are satisfied."

Commission President George Patterson agreed.

"We know what we have at this point," Patterson said. "If it can save us money down the line, we can reevaluate it. But we're not willing to buy a pig in a poke."