Board approves Kyrene Employee Benefit Trust renewals with no premium increases; one abstention

The Kyrene Governing Board on Feb. 25 approved the Kyrene Employee Benefit Trust—s recommendations for health-plan renewals, employee contribution rates and administration fees for the 2025–26 plan year. The motion carried 4–0 with Board Member Amy Satri recorded as abstaining, citing her profession.

Deb Spurgeon, presenting on behalf of the trust, said the KEBT voted to approve no premium-rate increases for medical plans for the coming year — a continuation of a trend the trust has maintained since 2020. She said the district will continue to offer the high-deductible HSA medical plan with employee-only coverage at no premium and will maintain an employer HSA deposit of $600 for employee-only coverage. The only design change Spurgeon described for the HDHP was an IRS-driven adjustment of the embedded deductible to $3,300 for an individual and $6,600 for family coverage.

Spurgeon and CFO Chris Herman explained the trust—s multi-year fund-balance history, the influence of high-cost specialty medications, and stop-loss protections; Spurgeon said the trust—s stop-loss (specific) attachment is $275,000 per individual in a year. Chris Herman added that some prior one-time savings in the benefits fund were reinvested into employee compensation.

Board members asked several operational questions. President Kevin Walsh asked whether high-priced pharmaceuticals were pushing net costs; Spurgeon confirmed an uptick in high-cost claimants and explained how stop-loss insurance mitigates extreme individual costs. A board member asked about Lyra mental-health benefits: Spurgeon said Lyra provides seven coaching or therapy visits paid by the district on an annual basis, after which members would continue care through the medical plan subject to deductibles and coinsurance.

The board motion to approve the KEBT plan renewals was moved by Member Bunny Davis and seconded by Cedric Collins; Member Amy Satri abstained from the vote and said only that her abstention was "due to my profession." The motion passed 4–0 with one abstention.

Implementation and next steps: Administration will proceed to open enrollment, scheduled April 14–May 2, 2025; staff will present stop-loss renewal in June and July 1 remains the plan-year start date.

Ending: The approvals preserve premium stability for employees for the upcoming plan year but include a required deductible adjustment to comply with federal rules; the district plans to monitor claims and fund balance going forward.