The Ironton Finance Committee Thursday agreed to recommend the city switch to Medical Benefits for its health insurance coverage for the coming year.

Medical Benefits, through the Brown/Raybourn and Associates of Ashland, Ky., submitted the lowest bid of $1.43 million. While that is approximately 3 percent above what the city is paying now to Medical Mutual of Ohio, city benefits specialist Katrina Keith said she is generally pleased with the outcome.

“I’m confident,” she said. “We want to provide our employees with quality health care but at the same time get the best renewal.”

Mayor Rich Blankenship agreed.

“We’re not happy with any increase but with health care the way it is these days, we’ve realistically got to expect an increase,” Blankenship said.

Right now the city’s annual premium for its roughly 130 employees is $1.38 million. If the city had stayed with Medical Mutual, the premium increase would have been 13 percent.

Under the new plan, the monthly premium for a single plan is $599; the monthly premium for a family plan is $1,362.56.

Brown Raybourn was one of three companies that submitted bids; the other two were Wells Fargo and Brower. Bids ranged from Medical Benefits’ $1.43 million to $1.8 million through Aetna.

The finance committee met prior to the regular council meeting.

Health insurance is one area where city leaders had hoped to minimize cost increases.

Finance Director Kristen Martin recommended to the full council that the city modify its pickup agreement with employees. The city is required by state law to pay 14 percent of the contribution to each employee’s retirement; each employee is expected to pay 10 percent.

Right now, the city pays both its contribution and the employee’s contribution. Martin suggested the city ask employees to begin paying half their share — 5 percent.

“If they just paid 5 percent toward the pickup that could save $190,000, if we paid just half their portion,” Martin said.

Fire Chief Tom Runyon pointed out that over the years, the city has agreed to pay each employees’ portion of the retirement contribution in lieu of pay raises.

“They (employees) used to pay the full 10 percent,” Runyon said. “But they were given this through negotiations. This wasn’t something any employee requested and no one is exorbitantly overpaid.”

Runyon said morale lately has been low, particularly after newspaper reports that detailed city finances and the retirement pickup issue, which was first brought up for discussion at a finance committee meeting last week. He said some of his firefighters have even been confronted about the issue by people on the street.

Martin said she had recommended the city study the retirement pickup issue because of the city’s financial condition, not to upset the city employees.

“I’m not here to slap anyone,” Martin said. “I’m an employee. I’m not picking on anyone. This is not a new issue. I recommended it to create a balancing act so people could get pay raises.”