The Human Resources Committee met at 3:02 p.m. and reviewed preliminary 2026 health-insurance options for Dodge County, hearing that Dean Health submitted a revised renewal and that outside actuarial work on a self-insured option is still pending.

Committee members were told Dean Health initially proposed a 20.9% renewal and later provided a revised renewal of 16.9%, with a 19.9% cap proposed for 2027. HR staff reported that the county’s 2024 utilization was about 126%, a key driver of higher renewal offers. HR staff also said the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) returned a firm quote of 16.4% and that broker R and R has solicited other quotes from Anthem, Sentibo and a Dean Health ASO for self-insured models.

Why it matters: the committee must decide whether to continue with a fully insured vendor or prepare for a potential transition to self-insurance — a step that requires actuarial certainty, stop-loss carrier support and operational readiness from county finance and payroll systems.

Committee staff summarized the procurement responses and next steps. HR staff said 15 stop-loss carriers declined to quote; the reasons given included refusal to quote over an existing fully insured plan (three carriers), uncompetitive pricing (seven carriers reporting quotes ~50% above current rates), ongoing large claims (two), insufficient claims history (two) and a poor loss ratio (one). The committee was told R and R is continuing to pursue stop-loss and actuarial information.

“Dean Health has sent a revised renewal for 16.9. It’s still high, but better than 20.9 with a 19.9 cap for 2027,” HR staff said. HR staff added that R and R aims to deliver an initial viability estimate for a self-insured arrangement by June and that the committee should expect updated information as it arrives.

The committee reviewed results from an employee survey intended to gauge staff priorities. Committee staff said about 298 respondents identified as full-time; among eligible employees, 262 reported being enrolled in the county plan and 34 said they were not. On premium fairness, staff reported 61.1% answered “yes” that monthly premium contributions are fair and 38.9% said “no.” When asked to rank priorities, employees placed in-network provider options first, premiums second and deductibles/co-pays third. About 77% of respondents said they were open to pharmacy cost-savings programs (mail-order, generics, etc.).

Staff also presented willingness-to-travel results: roughly four in five respondents indicated they would travel up to 30 miles for primary-care access, and a larger share indicated willingness to travel 30-plus miles for specialty care.

Committee discussion emphasized timing and coordination with the Finance Committee should the county pursue self-insurance. One committee member said, “I would think moving forward with the health insurance, if we’re looking at the self-funded option, that we definitely would need to have a joint meeting with finance because they’re going to play a key part in whether or not we’re going to move forward.” HR staff agreed, noting that official cost figures for many carriers may not be available until September — after budget work is largely complete — and that the early work is to determine viability and required preparatory steps.

No formal decision was made; staff were directed to continue gathering actuarial and stop-loss information and to report updates to the committee when available. HR staff said they will share any updated information with the committee and with employees once it is received.