Berwyn council approves 2025 insurance renewals after broker warns of large claims surge

The Berwyn City Council voted 8-0 to approve renewal of the city’s health, dental, life and vision insurance for 2025 after a presentation from Berwyn Insurance and Financial that described sharply higher claims and negotiated rate increases.

City finance officials and the council heard that the city faced an unusually large number of high-cost claims last year, prompting a proposed Blue Cross Blue Shield increase of 28.8% that was negotiated down. "We negotiated 7 points off the 28.8%. So we got them down to 21.8%, which saves approximately $920,000 for the year," said Mister Toka of Berwyn Insurance and Financial, the broker who presented the renewal package.

The council was told the city had eight ongoing large claims — defined in the presentation as individual claims over $50,000 — plus roughly 40 other large claims, which together accounted for more than $5 million in high-cost claims. The presenter said those high claims made the city materially less attractive in the market: Humana no longer writes large-group business, and UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Cigna declined to quote because the city’s claims history made them uncompetitive.

The broker summarized other lines in the package: Aetna’s proposed dental increase was negotiated from an initial 24.93% to 12.18%, saving roughly $30,000; life insurance remained on a rate guarantee and was not increased; vision (VSP) was offered at no increase with a four-year rate guarantee. The presenter told the council the combined negotiations reduced the cost from the initially proposed renewals by roughly $950,000.

Council members asked for detail about the $5 million in high claims and whether they were retirees; the broker said the large claims are mostly active employees and that privacy prevents identification of individual claimants. The presentation also flagged broad increases: total claims rose about 11.9% and pharmaceutical costs rose about 5% year over year.

The broker and one council speaker raised concern about off-label prescriptions for weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, saying prescribing practices can drive pharmaceutical spending. The city’s finance team was described as already reviewing premium impacts and the council was told the employee contribution would remain at 12.5% of the premium.

Motion and vote: Alderman Lennon moved to approve the health insurance renewal as presented; Alderman Arnella seconded. On a roll call the vote was Aye from Lennon, Boywood, Leija, Bate, Pabon, Ruiz, Arnella and Carmichael. The motion carried 8-0.

Officials said they negotiated reductions to limit the immediate budget impact, but they also warned that another year of similar claims could prompt a less favorable renewal in 2026.

Looking ahead, the broker recommended monitoring claims trends and continuing employee education about appropriate use of the medical system and prescription medications; the finance department is to follow up on premium planning and implementation details.