CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Costs for employee health insurance and property insurance are going up for Cleveland Utilities.

Employee health insurance, through Cigna HealthCare, is up nearly 10 percent, said Rick Lawson, personnel director for the utility.

CU and Cleveland city employees share the same insurance policy. For both, the 2008-09 policy includes a slightly higher copay for drugs. The copay for generics is rising from $7 to $10. And it includes a $150 copay for nonroutine diagnostic tests such as MRIs.

Like the city, CU will reimburse employees $100 of that cost.

Utility officials say the good news is the price jump could have been sharper than it is.

The cost for property and casualty insurance from Distributors Insurance Co. for 2008-09 is $833,000. That’s up from $819,000 for the past year.

The upward trend began with the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, General Manager Tom Wheeler said, and were exacerbated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

DCI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, made up of electric power distributors across the valley, Mr. Wheeler said.

“It was formed in the early 1980s when we had a hard time getting the specialized kind of insurance we needed,” Mr. Wheeler said. “Basically, we are buying insurance from ourselves as members of the group.”

It is the same process used by cities through the Tennessee Municipal League, Mayor Tom Rowland said.

“With one exception, this is the (smallest) rise since 2000,” Mr. Wheeler said.

The policy goes into effect Aug. 1, Mr. Lawson said.

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