BATON ROUGE — Four thousand City-Parish employees find themselves stuck in limbo after the East Baton Rouge Metro Council deferred a vote on a new health care plan Wednesday night.

Baton Rouge Firefighters Association President Jake Morgan called the potential increase the largest in recent history; meanwhile, the Baton Rouge Police Union says it supports Mayor-President Sid Edwards as he pushes to make rates affordable for City-Parish employees.

Jake Morgan says he wants the union included in whichever meetings these healthcare meetings are held. This comes as data collected by Marsh’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans show the total benefit cost per employee rising an average of 8.2% next year, the highest increase since 2003.

"The city has always had a standing health care committee,” Morgan said. “We understand changes have to happen. Prices only go up, especially on healthcare.”

Baton Rouge Police Union President Brandon O’Neal believes city-parish leaders are successfully navigating tough economic times when it comes to providing healthcare, and he praised Edwards in a statement for demonstrating a willingness to “listen, communicate, and work,” alongside the police union.

O’Neal says he rarely met with former Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, which is why he supports the efforts Edwards has taken.

“Once we voiced our concerns, we were immediately brought on board,” O’Neal said. “It's obvious that he's working and trying to help us. It's also obvious what happened under previous administrations and where we are financially.”

While the vote was deferred, it’s unclear when the metro council will take up the healthcare vote.