Some fees for

Public Health

services to increase

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Despite the irritation of at least one commissioner, the Brown County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to increase fees for certain Public Health services.

The Brown County Public Health Department had asked commissioners to raise the fees as a way of covering higher costs for immunizations and homemaker services.

The board approved fee hikes for skilled nursing visits, home health aide hours and homemaker hours. Its vote also simplified the sliding fee scale for Public Health services and the guidelines for using it. A subsequent vote doubled the cost of immunizations.

Services such as blood pressure screening, chicken pox checks, ear checks and rash assessments will still be available without charge.

Gloria Pearson, supervisor of adult health services for Brown County Public Health, said the department expects the changes in the fees for homemaker services to boost revenue by $6,500 annually. She said the increases will likely affect people who pay for home nurse visits out of their own pockets the most.

"It's irritating that people who have spent years saving their money now have to pay an extra $200 a year," said Commissioner Charles Guggisberg. "We're going after people who work hard and pay their taxes and we're now asking them to supplement the federal government."

The cost of flu and hepatitis B vaccines have risen along with the cost of the supplies needed to give the shots, said Mary Beach, administrative assistant with Brown County Public Health. Beach said the department wants to double the fees for giving out the shots; the charges for the actual vaccines will vary from year to year, depending on how much dosages cost.

The sliding scale is used to make Public Health services available to everyone in the county that doesn't have the financial means to pay for the full cost. Brown County residents must first apply to use the scale, listing all possible sources of income on the application.

The changes in the sliding fee scale were designed to bring it in line with federal poverty guidelines. The new scale uses three categories of income based on those guidelines instead of the small increments of income used in Brown County's present scale. Instead of looking at a person's overall asset level, the new scale will use a person's monthly income and the number of people in the household.

Commissioners also:

* Set a public hearing on the county's proposed manufactured home park and recreational campground ordinance for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 22.

* Voted to offer defensive driving courses through the Minnesota Counties Insurance Trust for county employees. Training will be made available to county employees who drive as a part of their jobs and will be subject to department head approval.

* Approved payment of a $476 special assessment to the Minnesota Transportation Alliance, which comes on top of the $1,490 in dues Brown County paid for 2003.

Commissioner RIchard Seeboth said he felt that the request was expensive but made a motion to approve the payment, saying "It's important to keep our projects going and I think this will beam us out in the long run."

Guggisberg seconded Seeboth's motion, adding, "We need to get the message out but they need to cut their expenses."

* Approved a contract with Global Crossing for long distance telephone services for county offices at a rate of $80 per month.