Aransas County approves 2026 health-plan renewal; commissioners choose two-plan option amid employee cost concerns

Aransas County Commissioners Court voted to approve renewal of the Texas Association of Counties Health and Employee Benefits Pool plan for plan year 2026 and authorized the county judge to sign the renewal agreement, selecting Plan 1400 NGS as the base plan and Plan 1100 NGS as a buyout option.

The decision matters because staff reported a roughly 9.7% rate increase and presented alternative ways to share the cost between the county and employees. Commissioners and staff pressed through details about premium increases, deductible choices and how many employees would be affected.

Desiree, the county benefits presenter, told the court the pool’s renewal showed multiple options for how to handle the increase. She said one option — which she displayed as a “blue” table — would have the county absorb the increase for employee-only coverage at a county cost she identified as $205,000. She described a second option in which the county pays nothing, which she said would produce a total additional cost to employees of $238,710 per year and would raise the employee-only per-pay-period contribution to $62.62 from $22.50.

Desiree also described an option she proposed as a roughly even split of the $238,000 increase between county and employees. On that option she said, “the 238,000 is a pretty even split between the employees and the county... for the year for the family would be $106,789.68,” and that the county’s per-employee contribution would increase compared with current levels.

On plan design, staff told the court they would offer two plan variants: a lower-deductible plan that closely resembles the county’s current plan (the presenter referred to it as the 1,100 plan) and a higher-deductible plan (referred to as the 1,400 plan). The presenter said the county’s current deductible is $750 and that the higher-deductible option shown in the packet would raise the individual deductible to $2,500 and a family deductible to $6,000. She said the plans would keep the same network, employee-assistance and wellness programs; the change would be in deductible and co-pay structure.

Staff provided utilization statistics: the presenter reported that about 11% of employees met the $750 deductible on their own, and that figure rises to 16% when spouses and children are included. Staff said the higher-deductible option would reduce premiums for many employees and quoted estimated guaranteed premium savings for an employee-only enrollee of roughly $578 per year if they selected the higher-deductible plan, while acknowledging that those savings are realized only if employees do not draw heavily on benefits.

Commissioners questioned the fairness of shifting costs. One public speaker, identified in the record as a resident, warned that raising employee costs could make it hard for the county to retain staff. Commissioners discussed potential responses including reviewing salaries and other budget adjustments alongside the benefits decision.

Commissioner (name recorded in the meeting) moved to approve the renewal using Plan 1,400 NGS as the base plan with Plan 1,100 NGS as the buyout plan and to authorize the county judge to sign the renewal agreement. The motion was seconded and passed; the court recorded affirmative votes and the motion carried.

The court also approved continuing retiree health benefits as-is for the moment; staff reported that documents to continue retiree benefits must be returned by the 27th to meet the administrator’s deadline. Staff said the retiree offering will remain in effect until and unless the court votes to change it.

The renewal will take effect under the Texas Association of Counties pool timetable for plan year 2026; staff said they will return any final contract documents for the county judge’s signature and that additional budget work is scheduled ahead of adoption of county salaries and the fiscal-year budget.