BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - County Clerk Joe Watson told the Stoddard County Commission that the county had received eight responses to a request for bids on health insurance for county elected officials and employees. He said all but one of those responses were from agencies in Stoddard County. Watson's report came at the commission meeting held Monday morning.
The county was notified that premiums under their current health insurance provider were raising nearly 20 percent because of a poor loss ratio in the past year. The commission decided at an earlier meeting to take bids for the insurance.
Watson said 34 notices were sent to agencies in the county and request for bids advertisements appeared in four newspapers. He said eight companies had responded and wanted more information so they could put together a package to present to the commission. The bids are due by Dec. 5.
The commission will also take bids on property and casualty insurance, but that insurance does not expire until Feb. 1, 2012. The commission had not set a time for requesting bids and did not do so Monday.
Commissioner Frank Sifford said the county had received a letter from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) that no state money would be coming to the county as reimbursement for recovery efforts from the 2009 ice storm. The county had $27,000 in total cleanup expenses from that disaster and FEMA reimbursed 77 percent of the cost, or $20,321. He said the state's letter indicated that the FEMA payment was sufficient to cover the costs.
Sifford said the state had been asked to a pay between $2,500 and $3,000 that the county would not receive.
"I think we got hooted here," Sifford said.
The commission discussed a pending trip to Jefferson City for a commissioner training program. The training will take place at Capitol Plaza.