Detroit's Emergency Manager/fiscal barber Kevyn Orr has proposed two major changes to Detroit's municipal structure: an overhaul of the city health care plan and a privatization of garbage collection services.
According to the Detroit News, the health care proposal "streamlines the 20 plans available to employees" but does not increase their monthly payments. The News writes:
The proposed plan also adjusts individual and family deductibles to better match health care plans offered in the private sector. Under the city's proposal, a single city employee with no dependents will see his or her annual deductible increase to $750 from $200, with total out-of-pocket expenses capped at $1,500.
A married city employee with a family will see his or her annual deductible rise to $1,500, and total out-of-pocket expenses for a family would be capped at $4,500, up from $3,000 currently.
Orr also announced that the city wants to privatize garbage collection ASAP.
According to Crain's the city could save $15 million per year from the move, and potentially add pick-ups for landscaping waste, recycling, and bulk trash. Crain's reports:
Orr said that by Thanksgiving or at least by the end of the year, the city plans to secure a contract or multiple contracts to outsource its trash collection, recycling and waste disposal services. The proposals are due by Sept. 10.
Both proposals are still in their infancy, but healthy people and as less garbage always seem more important when your petcoke piles start blowing around town.
