Montgomery County commissioners approve changes to 2025-26 ancillary benefits, keep health-plan core unchanged

Montgomery County commissioners on Feb. 3 approved a package of employee benefits changes that keeps the county's core health coverage intact, adopts a different dental option, adds a new vision-network choice and moves several ancillary employer-sponsored programs to Sun Life.

The commissioners voted to (1) adopt dental Option 3 for the 2025-26 plan year (dental only), (2) add the VSP vision network as an employee-paid option alongside the existing Vision Care Direct offering, and (3) switch the county's basic employer-sponsored life, AD&D, accident and critical-illness/EAP elements to a Sun Life plan. All three motions passed by unanimous roll-call votes.

The commissioners were presented with a comparison showing the pooled dental option under consideration would lower the county's annual cost by roughly $1,000 while reducing the per-person calendar-year dental maximum from $2,000 under the county's current plan to $1,500 under the pooled alternative. Staff noted the change to the $1,500 annual dental maximum applies to the pooled vendor's covered services; certain higher-cost treatments (for example, crowns) might no longer be fully covered under that maximum.

Staff also described monthly premium differences across employee tiers. Employee-only dental premiums would move from about $32.90 under the pooled option to $32.37 (a small decrease); employee-plus-children and family tiers saw small cents-level changes in either direction. Commissioners discussed whether employees should absorb a small monthly share to preserve the $2,000 maximum; several said they preferred a modest employee contribution to maintain some ownership in benefits.

On vision, staff proposed keeping Vision Care Direct available while adding the VSP network as a lower-cost, employee-paid option. Staff counted 62 employees currently enrolled in vision (28 employee-plus-one, 11 children, 28 families) and said moving to VSP for those who choose it would reduce vision costs by about 37% compared with the county's current plan. VSP premiums presented were roughly $7.41 to $14.81 per month depending on tier, with the full-family option about $23 per month; these ancillary plans are employee-paid.

For basic life/AD&D, employee voluntary life and the EAP, staff recommended Sun Life as a replacement for the county's existing Reliance programs. Sun Life would reduce some employer costs (EAP), raise the guaranteed-issue voluntary life amount (from $100,000 for new hires under the current vendor to $150,000 available at open enrollment under Sun Life), and include an automated file-feed process with EBMS to identify employees who completed wellness requirements and issue wellness incentive payments automatically.

Commissioners asked about participation timelines and open-enrollment logistics; staff said open enrollment will occur Feb. 20-21 with final edits accepted through Feb. 28 and an effective date of April 1 for plan changes. Staff also said benefits representatives (Courtney and Joe) will be available to assist employees during enrollment.

The board's formal motions recorded in the minutes name three separate approvals: the 2025-26 dental Option 3 (dental only), the 2025-26 vision plan allowing employees to choose Vision Care Direct or VSP, and the 2025-26 Sun Life plan covering basic life/AD&D, accident and critical illness. The motions passed on unanimous votes by the three commissioners present.

The commissioners did not change the county's core health insurance design; discussion and votes pertained to dental, vision and ancillary employer-sponsored plans only.

Looking ahead, staff said the new features will be explained at group meetings during open enrollment and assistance provided to employees who need help enrolling.