Spouses of city employees who can get their health care through their own employers should do so. This should save the city and taxpayers money in the future and was a good decision by the Bowling Green City Commission.

The ordinance, passed by a 3-2 vote Tuesday, requires that spouses of city employees who have the option of health insurance at their jobs take that and leave the city’s health plan.

Their transition would be eased by a one-time payment of $2,100, spread over a year.

The city’s plan will now have three levels of coverage, with tiered premiums within each level. Premium options would cover just the employee, the employee and one other, or the employee and his or her whole family.

All of these alterations will take effect Jan. 1.

We disagree with Commissioners Brian Nash and Brian Strow, who voted against the measure, but also understand that this new policy is a dramatic departure from the status quo.

On balance, the plan laid out by the commission is a good one, mainly because it should slow the rate of increases in health care costs the city must absorb, which averaged 9 percent in recent years, and the fact that it still allows those spouses who don’t have other insurance options to stay on the city’s plan.

The commissioners also deserve a pat on the back for appointing a committee of employees to decide for themselves what cost-controlling changes to make. Tuesday’s alterations were based on the committee’s recommendations. The committee reluctantly concluded that a non-mandatory opt-out wouldn’t draw enough use to save money. The committee came to the conclusion that this plan was the best way to preserve good coverage, and to keep costs down, even though some of their own spouses will be forced off city insurance.

Major change rarely satisfies everyone and this one is no exception. While it is not perfect, we believe it strikes a reasonably good balance between the need of the city to save money and maintain good coverage at an affordable price for its employees.