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Leavenworth Commission approves new medical carrier with roughly 24% premium drop; dental and vision unchanged
Summary
The Leavenworth City Commission voted to switch the city's employee medical coverage to Blue Cross Blue Shield with an approximately 24% reduction in premiums; Delta Dental and UnitedHealthcare vision renewals were approved with no increase. Changes take effect Dec. 1, 2025.
The Leavenworth City Commission voted to change the city's employee medical insurance carrier to Blue Cross Blue Shield and to renew dental and vision plans with existing providers, city staff said.
City staff recommended the change after a year-long renewal process that began with an initial UnitedHealthcare proposal that did not meet the city's budget target. "We would still have a 3-tiered plan offering ... with exact same plan design as what we currently have in place," a staff member leading the presentation said. The staff presentation said Blue Cross Blue Shield's final offer reduced current medical premiums by roughly 24 percent while mirroring the city's existing plan designs so employees would not experience coverage reductions.
Why it matters: The move reduces the city's projected medical premium expense while keeping the same benefit structure for employees, staff said. The city also reported flat renewals for dental (Delta Dental) and vision (UnitedHealthcare), meaning no rate increases for those lines in the new plan year.
Details from staff: During the presentation, staff explained that the city had asked the broker to solicit bids. Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna returned competitive offers; Blue Cross provided a slightly larger premium reduction and a rate guarantee that Aetna would not provide. UnitedHealthcare offered a 10 percent reduction without plan design changes but could not match the other carriers' pricing. The staff presentation said the total premium decrease moved from about 24.7% to 24.2% after final plan-design tweaks to replicate the existing benefits.
Timing and implementation: Staff recommended the commission approve Blue Cross Blue Shield for medical coverage, Delta Dental for dental and UnitedHealthcare for vision effective Dec. 1, 2025. Staff said open-enrollment meetings would be scheduled the first week of October and that all employees would be required to attend to sign up under the new medical carrier.
Vote and procedural notes: A motion to approve the staff recommendation was made and seconded during the meeting; the commission voted to approve the change. The meeting record shows multiple commissioners voting "Aye." The motion passed on the night of the vote.
What to watch next: Staff will conduct employee meetings in October to enroll employees under Blue Cross Blue Shield and to explain any administrative differences between carriers.
