Dade health benefit costs top the charts. (Dade County, Florida's employee health-care benefits rank highest according to A. Foster Higgins & Co. survey)

Dade health benefits, costs top the charts

MIAMI - Budget-crunched Dade County, facing a projected shortfall of about $50 million for the coming year, is spending at least $15 million more than the national average for health care benefits for its employees.

The figures show that the county ranks not only far above neighboring Broward and Palm Beach counties on a per employee basis, but also significantly above average costs for public sector employees in the Southeast. (See graph.)

County officials see managed care, such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs), as the only way to slow skyrocketing costs. They want to move all employees to HMO plans. And they are armed with a recent study contending that Dade could save up to $20 million in the first year if all employees in its indemnity plan were moved to an HMO plan.

The study was commissioned by the county from A. Foster Higgins & Co., an …