Commissioners approve 2025 employee‑benefits strategic plan; committee to study one alternative and defer another

Porter County commissioners voted March 11 to approve a 2025 strategic plan for employee benefits and to ask the benefits review panel to examine one alternative financing option while setting aside a second, more disruptive option for later consideration.

Candace Arthon, employee benefits advisor with General Insurance Services (GIS), presented the plan and outlined four focus areas: plan design, employee engagement, provider management and health‑plan administration. Arthon told the board the plan schedules vendor and program reviews across the year and noted that substantial changes would have long implementation runways — often into 2026.

During discussion commissioners and staff cautioned against radical mid‑year changes. Arthon and county staff explained the options under consideration: offering Anthem as a third‑party administrator alternative to the county’s current TPA (UMR) and exploring two more disruptive cost‑containment approaches — an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICRA) and reference‑based pricing. Staff described reference‑based pricing as potentially disruptive because it does not rely on a negotiated network and can shift billed balances to members; they said the county previously used a reference‑based approach and encountered billing and collection issues for employees.

After discussion Commissioner Ricknitz moved to approve the strategic plan with a specific instruction: include item 7 (the individual coverage HRA option) for committee study this year and remove item 8 (reference‑based pricing) from the committee’s work plan for 2025. A second was recorded and the motion passed unanimously.

Key details discussed on record:

- GIS advised the county’s stop‑loss reinsurance remains the program’s key guardrail; the panel evaluates stop‑loss and out‑of‑pocket structures ahead of the October 1 renewal cycle. Arthon said the county’s historical specific stop‑loss attachment was $175,000 per covered person (figures provided during the meeting).

- The committee will review pharmacy benefit manager contracts, the county’s TPA performance and network arrangements in quarter 2; any contract or design changes would be brought back to the board for formal approval.

- GIS stated its consulting work is included in the county’s existing consulting agreement and that the strategic plan work would not generate an additional charge to the county this year.

Why it matters: commissioners flagged rising health‑care costs and the need to balance cost containment with predictable member experience. The board’s direction narrows the committee’s near‑term work to options GIS and staff consider less disruptive while preserving a review of newer individual coverage approaches.

Ending: Staff and GIS will proceed with the quarter‑by‑quarter review schedule; any vendor or plan changes that emerge from the committee’s work will return to the board for public consideration and formal approval.