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Douglas County HR committee weighs dropping high‑deductible HSA plan after low enrollment and limited claims savings
Summary
HR staff reported low enrollment in the county's high‑deductible health plan (227 employees) and a small per‑person claims difference versus the PPO, and asked the committee to authorize staff to analyze union impacts and return with recommendations.
Carol Donnelly, a Douglas County human resources staff member, told the Human Resources Committee that HR is considering removing the county's high‑deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA), citing low uptake and only modest claims savings.
"To date, we have 227 employees that are enrolled in the high deductible health plan," Donnelly said. She said consultants provided claims data showing the difference between the HDHP and the PPO is approximately $200 per employee per month on claims; that works out to roughly $2,400 per employee per year and, multiplied by 227 enrollees, "comes to a little over half a million in claims," she said, while the county's total claims run about $31 million.
Donnelly said the HDHP has caused recurring administrative and employee issues. She described confusion among employees about how the county seeds HSA contributions over pay periods; some expect the full seed amount immediately and face difficulty paying a large early bill. She also described problems when employees fail to set up the required bank account for the county contributions, which delays funds and prompts calls to HR.
Donnelly said HR's internal review shows the HDHP has not delivered the expected behavioral change or claims reduction intended when the plan was introduced, and the division is recommending further analysis. "If we want the high deductible health plan to be really cost effective, then really we should be raising the deductible on the plan so that there's more out of pocket expense to recover what's going out in claims, or we would have to make the premiums so much less," she told the committee.
Committee members asked about collective‑bargaining implications and whether unions would oppose removing the option during open enrollment. Donnelly said staff will pull enrollment reports from the county's benefit platform (Solarix) to identify union members on the HDHP and discuss next steps with labor representatives if needed.
Mary Ann Borgeson, the committee chair, and other members indicated they saw no immediate problem with exploring removal of the HDHP given the data presented but asked staff to determine the number of union members affected and report back to the committee before any final action. The committee did not take a final vote or direct staff to eliminate the plan at the meeting; members asked HR to begin outreach and return with additional analysis.
Ending: HR was directed to identify union enrollments, clarify administrative fixes (HSA bank‑account setup), and return to the HR committee with counts and recommendations prior to bringing any proposal to the full board or to bargaining units.
