The Judson ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved administration's recommendation to pursue new employee medical insurance coverage for the 2026 plan year, after a detailed presentation on proposed premium changes, plan designs and likely impacts on employees.

District benefits staff and broker representatives briefed trustees and answered extensive questions about plan pricing and coverage. Benefits staff presented current employee premium contributions and proposed new premiums for three plan tiers (buy-up, mid, low). For example, benefits staff reported the current employee-only buy-up contribution was $178 and the proposed buy-up employee-only rate would be approximately $136; a lower-tier employee-only premium would drop from about $57 to about $7 under the proposed structure.

Benefits staff said the recommendation moves the district from a self-funded claim exposure model to a fully insured model this plan year to remove the district
s unpredictable premium/claim risk. "Moving to a fully insured plan takes away a lot more of the risk," a district representative said, adding that the district would continue to negotiate additional vendor features staff and employees value (for example, a commonly used vendor
"next-level" care program) even though certain enhanced benefits would change under the fully insured design.

Trustees pressed staff on likely out-of-pocket increases for employees, changes to deductibles and coinsurance, and coverage for chronic conditions such as diabetes. Benefits staff responded that co-payments and deductibles are expected to increase for some plans, though most employees historically do not reach full deductibles; they confirmed prescriptions, lab, x-ray and specialist coverage would remain, and that diabetic supplies and endocrinology were still covered under the recommended designs.

The board also discussed the district's recent experience while self-funding medical coverage, which produced unexpectedly large claim losses when Lucent's implementation and a data breach disrupted claims reporting. Trustees were told the district had previously experienced large, multi-million-dollar swings in medical costs and that a fully insured contract reduces exposure to such unpredictable losses.

After questions from trustees, Trustee Stanford moved, and the board approved, "the recommendation for request proposal employee medical insurance coverage for the 2026 plan year." The vote was unanimous.

Why this matters: The shift to a different funding model for employee health insurance changes employees' premium contributions, out-of-pocket costs and the district's annual budget exposure. Staff said the change will reduce the risk of midyear surprise budget amendments tied to claim volatility but may increase some employee out-of-pocket costs.

The district said staff will continue to provide benefit-comparison materials to employees during open enrollment, and the benefits department will publish plan-level details and enrollment deadlines. Trustees asked staff to analyze a tiered premium structure and to provide additional tracking on the effect of plan design changes on employees with chronic conditions.