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County staff: health insurance increase came in lower than budgeted; board must decide how much to cover
Summary
Staff reported Anthem premiums rose 6.4% for fiscal 2026, down from a 10% projection used in early drafts; board members debated whether the county should cover the full premium increase to keep employees "whole."
County staff told supervisors that the countys health insurance premium increase for fiscal 2026 arrived lower than the draft budget had assumed.
Staff said the insurer (Anthem/local choice) returned an actual premium increase of 6.4% for the countys plans, down from an earlier 10% projection used when staff prepared the administrators draft budget. Eric, the county staff presenter, said staff already reflected the savings in the working spreadsheet (a roughly $81,000 reduction compared with the 9% budget figure staff had previously used).
Board members discussed whether to instruct staff to pay the full premium increase so employees would see no out-of-pocket rise. Questions included how much of the earlier budgeted cushion remained and whether any part of the extra cost should be paid from fund balance. Staff gave a per-percentage-dollar figure for the countys health-insurance line (reported in the meeting as $31,004.62 per one percentage point) and said the county had already built a 3% COLA into the budget for county staff separate from the insurance conversation.
The Compensation Boards memo was discussed in the same segment: staff described a 3% COLA for state-supported positions plus an additional one-time 1.5% bonus in the state plan. Staff estimated the county cost to mirror the statewide 1.5% bonus for county employees would be about $226,000 with an offset of about $40,003.26 in state revenue (both figures were reported by staff during the session). The board discussed whether to treat a state bonus as a one-time payment covered from fund balance rather than recurring payroll.
Why the discussion matters: the board must set contribution schedules to Anthem/local choice by the end of the month for coverage effective in the new fiscal year, and those settings affect the countys budget and employees' paychecks.
Outcome and next steps: staff said they have already adjusted the working budget to reflect the 6.4% premium increase and will present a contribution schedule and final budget worksheet at the next meeting. Several supervisors said they expected to cover the county share of the premium increase to keep employees whole, but no formal roll-call vote was taken during the work session.
