Demorest council replaces Cigna employee health plan after coverage concerns

Demorest City Council unanimously voted Jan. 2, 2024, to replace Cigna with Aetna as the health insurer for city employees, setting Feb. 1, 2024, as the intended effective date. The 4-0 decision followed a work-session discussion that day in which city officials raised problems employees had encountered with Cigna coverage.

The change concerns a core city employee benefit and the public cost of providing it. Council minutes describe the approved insurance proposal as $31,772.21 and say it would produce a 10% decrease, though the minutes do not spell out the coverage terms, how that comparison was calculated or what employees would pay under the new plan.

Demorest had moved to Cigna on Feb. 1, 2023, citing $96,000 in savings, according to the Jan. 2 work-session minutes. Less than a year later, officials discussed employee issues with that coverage and reviewed a medical-cost analysis listing Cigna at $31,772.21 and Aetna at $29,204.79; staff recommended the switch to Aetna before council took its formal vote later that evening.

City employees were the people directly affected by the reported coverage problems discussed in the work session, although the minutes do not identify individual employees or describe their complaints in detail. City staff recommended Aetna after presenting the cost analysis, and the four council members present supported the proposal unanimously; the record does not include a stated position from Cigna, Aetna or employee representatives.

The council action itself is complete: the regular-session minutes record a motion, second and unanimous approval to change insurers. The Feb. 1 date, the $31,772.21 figure and the stated 10% decrease were elements of the proposal approved by council, not later confirmation that the plan began on schedule. No later city benefits, budget, insurance or council record here establishes implementation, altered terms or a renewal.

The next public checkpoint would be a subsequent Demorest benefits, insurance, budget or council record showing whether Aetna coverage took effect, was amended or was renewed. What remains unresolved is the plan’s administration and duration after the vote, rather than whether council authorized the change on Jan. 2.