Grand County approves 12.1% rise in medical budget; plan design and HSA changes also adopt

Grand County commissioners on Sept. 24 approved a set of employee benefit changes that increase the county—s medical budget by 12.1% for 2026 and make several plan design adjustments. The changes include removing the county—s existing EPO medical plan, raising high-deductible health plan deductibles, and increasing county HSA contributions to $900 for single coverage and $1,800 for family coverage. Commissioners also approved a 3.7% funding increase for dental coverage, small increases in employee dental premiums, and adoption of the federal increase to the dependent-care flexible spending account limit to $7,500 for 2026. The changes were presented by the county—s benefits consultant and HR staff; county leaders moved to accept the committee—s recommendations and the motion passed with aye votes. The recommendation packet said the medical-budget increase reflects both higher premiums and the effect of the proposed plan-design changes; staff said they would implement the new employee contribution schedule for 2026 payroll. Advocates on the benefits committee described the higher HSA and dependent-care limits as additional employee support and said HR assessed risks as low. No separate public hearing was recorded for these changes at this meeting; commissioners asked few substantive questions before voting. The board—s approval sets the county—s benefit funding and employee contribution rates for next year pending implementation steps by county HR and payroll staff.