JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City Council Member Ron Salem says during Tuesday’s Duval DOGE Committee meeting that the city of Jacksonville could save millions on employee healthcare.

Salem says that the city is spending more on employee healthcare than it’s bringing in.

“I hope we can scale back some spending we’re doing this year,” said Salem. “As I said many times, we don’t have the revenue problem, we have a spending problem in this government.”

He added that the city’s healthcare trust fund is already $28 million short, a deficit that could grow to $150 million within the next four to five years if no changes are made.

To address the issue, the city has partnered with The Bailey Group, North Florida’s largest employee benefits consulting firm. The group presented a case study showing how similar changes helped the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Fire & Rescue cut costs through zero-dollar copays for generic drugs and wellness programs.

Salem and The Bailey Group will also review claims data from the past 2–3 years and make recommendations for potential changes without increasing premiums for employees. 

“That’s our goal over three years and so forth, and you and the committee, and you can’t do this on the backs of employees based on raised premiums,” says The Bailey Group. “It’s gonna be a lot of levers to be pulled, it’s gonna be multifaceted, but we look forward to the engagement.”

The committee will receive the report soon and plans to discuss additional issues in upcoming meetings, including homelessness downtown and updates to the PATH program and opioid initiatives.

City leaders say tackling these costs now could prevent the healthcare deficit from getting bigger and help ensure the city’s budget remains sustainable in the years ahead.

The Mayor’s Office provided First Coast News with the following statement:

“As the Duval DOGE Chair noted, this is an ongoing problem that the current administration did not create. However, under Mayor Deegan’s leadership, her team is working diligently to solve it. These efforts will reduce employee healthcare costs by more than $13 million from 2023 to 2027, and we will continue to focus on delivering more savings. Should the duplicative efforts being undertaken by the Duval DOGE Committee produce new ideas, we look forward to reviewing them.”