The LaSalle County Insurance Committee voted to forward the proposed health insurance budget to the county Financial Committee and to reappoint the county HR director, after presentations on plan performance and several budget lines.

Melissa, LaSalle County HR director, presented three budget groupings: Fund 001 (general fund insurance lines), Fund 098 (health insurance internal agent / claims and fixed costs) and Fund 16 (insurance trust and operational lines). She said the county’s total renewal bottom‑line figure provided by Horton Group is $12,000,006 (claims plus fixed costs) and described how that total maps into departmental reimbursements.

Key budget details presented by Melissa included a proposed HSA seed funding line currently set at $1,000 for single coverage and $2,000 for non‑single coverage; she proposed increasing the seed‑money budget line to $150,000 to cover anticipated new hires who might select the HSA plan. Melissa said certain retiree premium costs and carrier moves were driving adjustments on Fund 098.

On retiree coverage, staff explained the county will move post‑65 retiree administration to the county’s retiree vendor (referred to in the meeting as Benastar) and a new carrier administrator (referred to as Humana in comments). Melissa said that move limits a projected much larger increase that would have occurred under the county’s incumbent carrier; the switch is expected to yield only a single‑digit percent increase versus a much larger alternative.

Fund 16 includes the county’s operational liability and safety lines as well as transfers to departmental funds based on risk‑weighted payroll; Melissa explained the transfers follow a risk management allocation formula and several lines (including prior bond paydown transfers) are zeroed for the upcoming year pending direction from Finance.

Committee action and outcomes: the committee voted by roll call to forward the health insurance budget to the Financial Committee; to accept and place on file the health insurance reports; to reappoint the HR director for a three‑year term and to authorize payment of insurance bills. All recorded votes were unanimous.

Votes at a glance:
• Motion to approve minutes from previous meeting — mover: Kathy Bridal; second: James Bailey; outcome: approved (roll call, all ayes).
• Motion to accept and place on file the health insurance reports as presented — mover: James (name as spoken); outcome: approved (roll call, all ayes).
• Motion to set and forward the FY‑2026 health insurance budget to Financial Committee — mover: James; second: Kathy Bridal; outcome: approved (roll call, all ayes).
• Motion to approve and reappoint the HR director and forward to Legislation & Rules — mover: Kathy Bridal; second: James; outcome: approved (roll call, all ayes).
• Motion to pay insurance bills — mover: not specified on record; outcome: approved (roll call, all ayes).
• Motion to adjourn — mover: Kathy Bridal; second: Steve Albre; outcome: approved (voice and roll call, all ayes).

What was not specified: several numeric budget lines were discussed in the meeting transcript with garbled or partially stated figures (for example retiree premium lines and some transfer totals); Melissa indicated detailed departmental spreadsheets will be used to drive exact interdepartmental billings and that final figures are tied to enrollment assumptions. Finance committee review and final board approval remain required steps before changes take effect.

Ending: The committee forwarded the budget package and reappointment to the next steps in the county approval process; staff will continue to finalize departmental reimbursement amounts and to communicate retiree carrier changes to affected retirees.