News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
City of Cookeville looking to approve a new life insurance provider.
Finance Director Brenda Imel said the renewal price for its current provider increased by more than 92 percent. She said after shopping out the plan, six different providers showed interest.
“And the best quote was Hartford and they gave us a quote of 46.6 cents per $1,000 for active employees and 66.5 cents per $1,000 for retirees,” Imel said. “It’s still an increase, but it’s only an increase of about 8.6 and 8.7 percent compared to the 92 percent.”
Imel said the accidental death and dismemberment and the basic dependent coverage remain the same. She said the company has also given the city a three-year rate guarantee.
City Manager James Mills said the benefit is something the city offers to its employees, but that it is not mandatory.
“We’re really pleased with this, originally it was much higher,” Mills said. “And I think Brenda we’ve talked about this before but in the last two years, our insurance company I think has actually lost money. and they don’t operate too well if they lose money so they had to raise rates (…) So we were expecting this. And unfortunately, we did have some deaths so there was a lot paid out.”
