West Lafayette saves taxpayers money

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The City of West Lafayette is looking to save taxpayers some cash when it comes to employee health care cost.

For the past five years the city has worked to lower its costs.

Employees are now more responsible for their coverage, from health savings accounts to receiving special incentives for healthy behavior.

The city itself has sponsored walks, provided discounts for weight loss, and also encouraged kicking smoking habits.

"What that's done for the city of West Lafayette is lowered our occurrence rate. Fewer people are filing claims with our insurance carriers. Which means overall we're having less occurrence. Less payouts by the insurance companies which means the city is saving money," commented Mayor John Dennis.

With all those changes, city government will save about 1 percent of their total healthcare costs.

The extra cash will go back into the general fund.