Commission declines to hear late-filed stop-loss insurance item; mayor signals special meeting before July 1

Williamson County commissioners declined on June 9 to hear a late-filed resolution (6 25 40) asking the commission to approve a one-year stop-loss (reinsurance) contract that would take effect July 1.

The item was filed late because the county’s bid and purchasing process for employee benefits ran on a calendar different from the stop-loss contract’s July 1 expiration, county staff said. Mayor Rogers Anderson and members of the county’s insurance committee told commissioners the county risks being uninsured for catastrophic employee health claims unless the commission acts before the expiration of the current policy on June 30.

“ If we should have to go into July 1 without reinsurance, then I’ve got to buy 6‑month stability, and that price tag versus a year’s price tag is significant in several million dollars,” Mayor Rogers Anderson said during the discussion, urging commissioners to hear the item. He said the committee considered both six‑month and 12‑month options and voted unanimously to recommend the 12‑month contract, which Cigna offered as the only bidder with a concrete price.

Two commissioners objected to hearing the late-filed item that evening. Commissioner Lisa Hayes said she and others had not had sufficient time or transparency on the competitive-bidding documents and that the employee benefits line is large enough to warrant a full commission briefing: “It’s concerning to me when it’s a $90,000,000 line item on our budget that we’re just asked to go, okay. And we get no transparency when you got no detail,” she said, describing requests she had made for a commission-wide review of bids and broker options.

Commissioner Barb Sturgeon asked whether prior approvals on similar stop-loss contracts were common and whether the full commission’s vote had been required historically; county staff said the stop-loss renewal had been presented to the commission in prior years. Staff confirmed the county’s medical coverage is self-funded and that the stop-loss policy sits on the county fiscal year cycle, expiring June 30, while medical insurance renews on a calendar-year cycle.

Because at least two objections were registered when the chairman asked whether commissioners would hear the late-filed item, the motion to hear the resolution failed. Mayor Anderson said he would call a special meeting for June 20 at 8 a.m. to consider the stop-loss item so the county would not lapse in coverage, and he urged the two objecting commissioners to withdraw their objections. The mayor also noted that even if the item were heard, commissioners could hear details and still move to defer or deny it after questions were answered.

No formal vote on the contract was taken June 9; the resolution remained not heard. County staff said the stop-loss coverage proposal had been produced through the county’s bid process as a separate component of the broader employee-benefits procurement, and that only Cigna returned a firm price on the stop-loss bid.

What comes next: The mayor said he will schedule a special meeting to consider the stop-loss contract before July 1. Commissioners can ask for additional briefing, and any motion to approve or defer will require a formal vote at that meeting.