Cuyahoga County (OH) workers offered a cost-cutting deal at MetroHealth System

Cuyahoga County, OH, hopes to bolster the MetroHealth System's lean budget by offering employees $500 to sign up for a low-cost health plan with the hospital and its doctors. County government employees who pick one of two MetroHealth plans will have no monthly premiums or annual deductibles and pay only $5 for a doctor's visit. MetroHealth would benefit from the deal because more insured patients would be coming through its doors. The public hospital has struggled in 2008 because of the growing number of uninsured and Medicaid patients.