Don Zimmerman, director of the Arkansas Municipal League, has sent me a copy of his letter to Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore answering questions related to the municipal league became the health insurance provider for city employees.

As I wrote yesterday, city directors have urged Moore to consider options other than the current provider, QualChoice, which costs $16.8 million this year and would rise almost $900,000 next year with existing benefits. The Municipal League has said it could save the city $1.6 million to $2.6 million, or provide the same coverage with smaller deductibles for employees at the same price.

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Zimmerman notes that Municipal League coverage is month to month. If the city found a better option, it could change quickly. He said the league had already addressed concerns about pregnancy and mental health coverage. He said the plan would cover women’s health and cancer coverage, though federal law allowed it to be exempt. It does cover breast reconstruction after mastectomy. He said the League was “working” on a 5 percent rate increase to address a concern that the current city coverage has no limit on hospitalization coverage while the Municipal League has a 30-day limit in a calendar year. He said the group’s board would meet Nov. 6 on some other changes the city would like to see, including on office visit co-pays, drug cards and organ transplants.