County reports self‑funded health plan paying ahead of premiums so far but retains multi‑million reserve

Personnel staff presented a status update on Dunn County’s self‑funded health insurance fund, reporting that year‑to‑date claims and prescription payments exceeded premiums collected to date, though fund reserves remain.

The presenter said the county budgets an anticipated $9.2 million in premium revenue for the plan (employee contributions plus the county’s share) based on consultant projections using recent claims history. At the time of the presentation the fund had received about $1,973,000 in premium revenue for the year and paid roughly $2,300,000 in claims and prescription costs, leaving the fund temporarily paying ahead of receipts. The presenter explained that claims and rebates fluctuate month to month and noted a common delay of three to four months for stop‑loss reimbursements and prescription drug rebates.

The presenter said the county’s self‑insurance fund has an assigned reserve of about $3.6 million to cushion variations in claims experience and that, historically, the county has replenished the fund in prior years. The personnel director said consultants and prior claims history guide the premium projection and that the county intends to monitor monthly experience and present final audited figures for 2024 when the external audit is complete.

Supervisors asked whether increased insurance costs had negated recent wage increases for employees. The presenter said the benefit options were structured so wage increases were not expected to be exceeded by insurance cost changes and that staff had provided scenario examples to employees when benefits and raises were discussed.

No committee action was taken; the item was presented for information and continued monitoring.