Analysis finds staying self‑funded likely cheaper; fully insured Premera bid would cost about $4.2M more

The Anchorage School District on April 8 reviewed a market analysis of its employee health plan and heard that, based on the data presented, remaining self‑funded is likely less expensive than switching to a fully insured contract. The analysis, prepared by consultants from the Alara Group and presented to the board, estimated a move to a Premera fully insured plan would raise district costs by about $4,200,000 (roughly 10.2%) for a July 1 effective date, while the district would face roughly $3,097,000 in “runout” liability if it terminated the current self‑funded arrangement.

Why it matters: Health insurance is one of the district’s largest operating costs, covering roughly 1,400–1,500 lives under the ASD health plan. A multi‑million dollar change in structure or a major carrier change would affect district budgets, bargaining talks and employee out‑of‑pocket exposure.

The presentation and board discussion Marty Lang, chief of human resources, framed the review as a checkpoint after more than 15 years as a self‑funded plan: “The question has come up… whether or not the district should remain as a self funded plan for the ASD health plan,” Lang said, noting the district switched to self‑funding in February 2009 and that the topic was also recommended in a recent Council of Great City Schools audit. Lang said the ASD plan is managed day‑to‑day by the benefits office and serves about 1,500 employees across eight employee groups.

Consultants Sheree Hendricks (lead consultant, national accounts) and Tyler Kathhammer (executive director, underwriting analytics) of the Alara Group summarized their claims analysis, benchmarking and a marketing comparison between the district’s Aetna‑administered self‑funded plan and a fully insured proposal…