By Ray King
By a vote of 7-1, the Pine Bluff City Council on Monday approved an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide health insurance coverage for city employees, officials and dependents beginning Jan. 1.
According to the resolution, the city’s current insurance company, United Healthcare, gave the city a proposal for 2026 that included a 21-percent rate increase.
Mayor Vivian Flowers said that rate increase proposal prompted the city to seek proposals from companies interested in providing the coverage and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s proposed rate will increase the amount city employees and officials will pay by 8 percent, instead of the 21-percent increase if the city had stayed with United Healthcare.
The proposed plan includes health coverage and prescription drugs.
Council member Steven Mays cast the only no vote on the resolution.
Also Monday, Mays was the only council member to vote no on a resolution authorizing the Street Department to purchase a piece of equipment to help with street maintenance, particularly dealing with potholes.
Council member Bruce Lockett explained what the equipment will do.
The equipment is priced at $337,555.90 and the money to pay for it was set aside as a part of the Street Department budget.
A resolution congratulating Dr. Tamara P. Glover for being crowned Mrs. USA International Global 2025-2026 at the USA World Pageant in New Orleans and she will now compete in the International Global Pageant to be held in September 2026 in Malaysia was approved without dissent.
Glover is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, professor, wife, mother and internationally recognized maternal mental health advocate.
Glover is a former Mrs. Pine Bluff, Mrs. Arkansas, and now Mrs. USA International Global and received the Queen of Queens Award for earning the highest overall score among every contestant across all divisions, solidifying her as one of the top-performing women in the country.
