(KLZA)-- The Falls City Council members approved the recommendation from the City Employee Health Insurance Committee to make a change in providers for the city health insurance coverage when they met Monday evening.

Dan Duren with Benefit Management explained that Blue Cross / Blue Shield had proposed a significant increase in premiums for the next year, totaling 37.25 percent for the City.

Duren said that a premium quote from MEDICA came in with a 15.92 percent increase over what the City was paying. He noted a significant advantage the company is offering, which includes basically, giving free prescriptions for most maintenance drugs including diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He said that would be a huge savings for the employees in out-of-pocket expense.

The Council approved switching to MEDICA with a monthly premium paid by the city of $60,162.