Health insurance costs for the City of Decorah are going up over 15 percent

It will cost more money next year for the City of Decorah to provide health insurance coverage to its employees.

The city's current health insurance carrier, Wellmark BC/BS, has notified the city it will increase premiums by 15.3 percent for the 2017 fiscal year.  City officials say they looked at a number of alternative Wellmark plans, but none of them offered enough savings to justify the additional level of risk that would come with the policies.

The city's new bargaining agreement with its unions provides for employee participation in the self-funding portion of the health insurance plan--$6 per individual coverage and $12 per family coverage.  This clause is new with the latest union contract.