Douglas County HR committee reviews proposal to replace Aflac with Mutual of Omaha and Guardian, add legal, ID‑theft and pet options

Douglas County Human Resources Committee members heard a presentation on a proposal to replace most of the county's voluntary Aflac products with group worksite products from Mutual of Omaha and Guardian and to add legal, identity‑theft and pet insurance options.

Ian Shada, an Alliant broker, presented the proposal and told the committee the goal is to streamline the employee experience and reduce premiums. "We want to get rid of that feeling like there's multiple like Aflac group and Aflac traditional are working against each other," Shada said, describing employees' experience last year when group and individual Aflac products operated separately.

The proposal would move short‑term disability, accident and hospital plans to Mutual of Omaha; the broker presented sample premium comparisons showing typical employee savings. For example, Shada said a 34‑year‑old example who currently pays $101 monthly for a weekly short‑term disability benefit would pay about $76 with Mutual of Omaha; a 54‑year‑old example would move from $68.40 to about $46 for a comparable benefit level. Shada said the Mutual of Omaha offers a 25 cent administrative fee reduction with Blue Cross/Blue Shield worksite placement (up to 75 cents across three products), which would reduce ASO administration costs the county pays.

Shada also described product design changes that would increase benefit payments in many cases while lowering rates: the Mutual accident plan shows a higher per‑visit payment (example: a $100 payment on the low plan versus $50 today, and $175 on the high plan versus $75) and substantially larger follow‑up treatment payments (e.g., $150 to $175 per follow‑up visit versus $25 to $35 today). Shada said an "express benefit" feature would pay a small amount (he cited $100) within 24 hours of filing a claim to speed cash to employees.

Because Mutual of Omaha did not offer a group cancer product, the package pairs Mutual products with Guardian for critical‑illness and cancer coverage. Shada said Guardian's critical‑illness design would raise guaranteed issue amounts (employee coverage up to $50,000 in a cited example) and allow spouses to elect 100% of the employee amount (the current Aflac individual structure limits spouse coverage to 50%). He said Guardian's cancer/critical‑illness plan includes a broader list of covered conditions and that the larger scheduled benefit options will make replacement attractive for many employees who do not already carry older Aflac riders.

Shada emphasized that the guaranteed‑issue features he described apply at the initial open enrollment and for new hires: "That's at the initial open enrollment or anytime somebody's hired. In subsequent years, you can get on during open enrollment, but you could be subject to evidence of insurability," he said in response to a committee question.

The presentation also proposed new voluntary ancillary benefits: a legal plan from U.S. Legal Services (presented as fully indemnified services rather than a discount network), identity restoration from IdentityForce (noted as owned by TransUnion and offering quicker access and child coverage), and two pet insurance options: a simplified payroll‑deducted Pet Partners product with flat, composite rates and a flexible Spot offering that provides the county discount via a direct link and allows employees to choose deductible and reimbursement levels.

On life insurance, Shada presented Guardian's permanent life options that include living‑benefit features usable for long‑term care; he said Guardian's plan variations (labeled plan 2 and plan 3) would double or triple available living benefits for lower cost than the current MassMutual product in some designs. Shada noted employees who already have existing whole‑life or long‑standing MassMutual policies may prefer to keep them; he said no employee would be required to cancel an existing policy and that existing policies would simply move off payroll deduction if the county stops offering that carrier.

Colleen Frederickson and other HR staff said the proposed voluntary products are employee‑paid and would not require county contributions. Committee members discussed the need for robust communications to employees to avoid the confusion that accompanied last year's change from individual to group Aflac coverage. "We are gonna be moving away from Aflac," Shada said, "but no one has to lose anything they've got in place. They can all stay where it's at."

Implementation steps discussed included drafting sample contracts for review by the county attorney's office, building the products into the county's enrollment platform, and bringing the package to the full Board of County Commissioners for approval. Mary Ann Borgeson, chairing the committee, said the voluntary package "will be before the board then in just a couple weeks for us to approve going forward with this." HR and Alliant said they would supply sample contracts and communications materials and work with the county attorney on contract language before open enrollment.

Ending: Committee members voiced general support for proceeding to the board and asked HR and Alliant to return with contract language and a communications plan. Staff said the county attorney's office must review contracts and that enrollment platform build time is required before open enrollment.