Schenectady County continues to save money on health care

Schenectady County continues to save money on health care through innovation and planning. In 2004, the new Democratic Majority on the County Legislature set out to reform health care costs for Schenectady County.

“Our most recent achievement is the negotiation and implementation of Medicare Advantage Plans for all of our Medicare-eligible retirees. This reform reduces the taxpayers’ cost for retiree health-care benefits by $1,300,540 for 2009, a 79.17 percent reduction from our 2008 expenditure levels,” said Schenectady County Legislature Chairwoman Susan E. Savage.

“As chair of the Labor and Civil Service committee, I am constantly reviewing methods to reduce health-care costs and, in this instance, we succeeded in saving taxpayers over $1.3 million,” said Vice Chairwoman Judith Dagostino. “What is truly remarkable is that while saving taxpayers money, retiree health-care benefits actually improved with lower co-pays and lower deductibles. That is because Medicare Advantage Plans are heavily funded by the federal government. This reform is a new way of doing business, and a better way of doing business.”Click here for more new coverage.