The Monongalia County Commission on Oct. 29 voted to establish a clearing account to fund employee health insurance premiums and to prefund that account to cover initial premium withdrawals.

County staff said the new account is required to align with a revised premium-deduction process and described the prefunding calculation as consisting of an estimated monthly premium, an account reserve and a prefunding allocation for self-enrollees, plus a buffer. During the presentation staff read a series of dollar figures aloud; the transcript records phrases such as an "account reserve amount of 21,000," a prefunding figure for self-enrollees of "63,000," and a total funding figure read aloud in the record that is not fully clear as spoken. Those amounts were part of the staff explanation and the commission voted to approve prefunding "as described."

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved both establishing the clearing account and the prefunding motion in open session. Staff said the prefunding is intended to cover the first month of premium draws and a modest cushion while the new process (including required signatures) is put in place. The meeting transcript does not include a roll-call tally beyond the voice votes recorded on the floor.

The commission directed staff to proceed with the account setup and to return to the commission with any implementation steps or additional details as needed.