Pulaski School Board approves 2025–26 insurance renewal; staff to implement 4% employee contribution option

The Pulaski Community School District Board voted to approve the district's 2025'26 insurance renewal as presented after district benefits staff reported a projected increase below earlier estimates and recommended a 4% employee contribution scenario.

District benefits staff summarized results of recent work with the benefits advisory committee and outside consultants, saying the renewal moved from near-double-digit projections down to a 6.8% increase for 2025'26 because of better recent claims months, stop-loss negotiations and several cost-mitigation strategies the district has implemented.

The district's self-funded approach plus specific levers produced savings compared with a fully insured renewal the board received the prior year, staff said. Staff reported that, by pursuing specialty carve-outs, a payer matrix and a contracted Samaritan Fund arrangement, the district recorded roughly $1.5 million removed from plan costs through the Samaritan Fund and about $286,000 in savings from the payer-matrix program to date.

Staff also reported a favorable stop-loss renewal that reduced fixed stop-loss fees by about 4% after marketing the coverage to multiple carriers. The benefits presentation said favorable stop-loss pricing was partly the result of removing higher-cost claims from the district plan through the Samaritan Fund and payer-matrix agreements, making the district's risk more attractive to insurers.

Board members asked about program details and tradeoffs. Staff said the Samaritan Fund is a contracted, strategic partnership with a payment structure and active case management rather than an unconditional community grant. Staff described the payer matrix as administratively noisier because it requires provider engagement and case work to realize savings.

The board reviewed spousal-surcharge options at staff'provided scenarios. Staff said there are 272 spouses currently on the plan, a commonly modeled average for spouses with access to other coverage was 204, and an illustrative surcharge amount of $150 per month ($1,800 per year) was used to show potential outcomes. Staff stressed the results depend on which spouses leave the plan: if healthier, lower-cost spouses leave, the district may lose more in collected surcharge revenue than it saves in claims; if higher-cost spouses leave, the district would see net claim savings. Staff characterized the predictable collected surcharge revenue (roughly $300,000 in the scenarios shown) as the more reliable outcome than large claim-savings scenarios.

The board also discussed wellness initiatives the district has pursued, including opening the fitness center for staff and community use and a physical-therapy "PT-first" initiative the district said is producing utilization that helps reduce musculoskeletal spend.

On a motion to approve the insurance renewal as presented, which included no change to dental and no district-funded change to vision (employee-paid), the board voiced assent and the motion carried.

The district will present updated budget projections at the next meeting and staff said they will hold a virtual open-enrollment meeting for employees the following week to explain enrollment, escalation and escalation paths for employee concerns with the third-party administrator.