Lori Miller of Freedom Claims Management, along with representatives from Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Kansas, met with the Ellsworth County Commissioners Monday during their weekly meeting to give an update on county employee health insurance for 2025.

Miller said while the 2025 rates for BCBSKS are known, the rates for Aetna, which the county currently has, won’t be released for another month.

After further discussion, the commissioners decided by consensus to contact Aetna and tell them the county needs their 2025 rates by Oct. 14, or the county will look at alternatives. In the meantime, the commissioners will examine the county’s cost-sharing figures.

In other business:

• Approval was given to the Ellsworth County EMS to purchase three laryngoscopes at a cost of $4,564 using funds from the American Hero fund and the COVID Relief fund. EMS Director Nathan Florian noted the scopes are used to look down a patient’s throat.

• After a 10-minute executive session to discuss employee wages with Brett Dunlap of the county road and bridge department, approval was given to give Dunlap, as the new road and bridge superintendent, a pay increase to $29/hour starting Oct. 1.

• Approval was given to a software update proposal from Five Star Consulting for the IBM I OS-AS 400 in the county clerk’s office. The update will cost $850 and be taken from the clerk’s technology fund.

• Abatement 2023-96 in the amount of $616.06 was approved.

• Officials from Goldberg Group Architects updated the commissioners on the facility assessment report for the county courthouse and the county jail.

The next meeting of the Ellsworth County Commission will be at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, at the county courthouse.