Douglas County HR recommends 7.1% medical premium increase for 2026; package sent to county board

Douglas County Human Resources staff recommended a 7.1% increase to medical insurance premiums for 2026 and asked the county board to consider a set of renewals and contract terms covering medical, dental, vision and flexible spending accounts. The HR committee discussed stop-loss exposure, dental administrative-fee options and a one-year renewal with WEX for flexible spending account administration and agreed to send the package to the County Board next week for final action.

The recommendation from HR called for a uniform 7.1% increase across all medical tiers. HR said the increase would be split between employees and the county, and that staff did not plan to subsidize any portion of the annual increase from the medical reserve this year. Karen Butch, HR, told the committee the plan had been running “a little bit under claims for this year” but that recent large claims and a higher stop-loss preliminary renewal—reported at about 39%—supported the increase.

Why it matters: Douglas County’s medical plan is the largest single benefit expense and HR told the committee the county’s medical spend is…