Bradley County officials on an administrative meeting reviewed proposed changes to the county’s employee health insurance offerings, explained four plan options and their tradeoffs, and asked that the recommendation be placed on the County Commission agenda for Nov. 3 so open enrollment can be held in November and any new plan would take effect Jan. 1.

The discussion was led by the county mayor, who described four options in the packet and said the county plans to continue giving employees the dollar difference in savings to deposit into employees’ health savings accounts under one option. "It's a very good option," the mayor said of the county’s direct primary care option, while also warning employees that high deductibles mean the plan is intended to be backed by catastrophic coverage.

Why it matters: county leaders said employee health insurance is a growing line in the budget and that small percentage increases translate into millions of dollars of county spending. Commissioners pressed staff for counts and cost context during the discussion, and officials said the commission will consider the recommendation at its Nov. 3 meeting before authorizing open-enrollment dates.

What was presented: officials described four plan options in the benefit packet. Option 3 is a buy-up network that adds Park Ridge Hospital and East Ridge Hospital to the provider network; employees who choose that option pay the difference in premium. Option 4 pairs a higher-deductible insurance policy with a county‑paid direct primary care membership that allows frequent primary care visits and many prescriptions with no copay; the county would use the premium savings to pay the direct primary care membership. Officials said option 2 produces some savings that the county would deposit into employees’ HSAs.

County staff and the county’s benefits broker reviewed utilization and cost drivers. "Medical trend for 2026 ... probably 7%," Sam, a Cigna representative, said when explaining national trend assumptions and how the county’s claims history affects renewal pricing. The benefits broker noted the county has received rebates in years when claims were below premiums but that recent large claims have driven this year’s increase.

Numbers discussed in the meeting: staff reported the county’s payroll population as 604 employees and said 12 employees were on family plans. Officials said four employees were enrolled in a "family plus one" option and eight were on a full family plan. Staff also said that many employees do not take family coverage because they are covered on spouses’ plans or purchase coverage elsewhere.

Budget context and choices: speakers warned that matching the city’s family-cost levels would require the county to pay a large share of family premiums. The mayor said the city covers individual premiums and pays a larger share of family coverage, and that "unless we're willing to pay roughly 50% of the family cost, we'll never match them on that particular subject." County leaders discussed the difficulty of predicting take-up for optional family subsidies and cautioned that any decision to lower benefits to save money would be politically difficult to explain.

Next steps: the mayor asked commissioners to place the recommendation on the Nov. 3 commission agenda for formal consideration. Officials said open-enrollment sessions would be scheduled in November and that any approved changes would take effect Jan. 1.

Quotes in context: the mayor summarized option 4 by saying, "If you are young, you take option 4, you get direct primary care membership, which means you can go to the doctor as many times as you want to every month, and it doesn't cost you a dime." Pamela, the county’s benefits broker, thanked the commission for the opportunity to continue working on the county’s benefits and urged members to call with questions: "Please don't ever hesitate to call me."