Warren County benefits team reports enrollment, new vendor and Samaritan Fund savings

The Warren County Board of Commissioners heard an update from the county’s benefits and risk team covering enrollment, pharmacy-vendor changes, wellness programming and a new Samaritan Fund that the team said reduced plan liabilities this year.

Faith Stone, identified in the meeting as a member of the benefits and risk team, told commissioners about plan enrollment and programs. "Enrolled in the BOCC health care plan, we have about 1,937 enrollees," Stone said. She broke that down as about 900 employees, 350 spouses and about 700 children. The county offers two medical plans, a base option and a buy-up; enrollment in those was roughly 55% on the base plan and 45% on the buy-up option, Stone said.

Nicole Downing, also with the benefits team, reviewed participation and incentive programs. She said 671 employees completed comprehensive blood screenings in January 2025 as part of an incentive that awards a paid day off for screening participation. Downing described an HSA incentive that deposits $300 into an employee's HSA when they complete required activities and said spouses may also participate. She also described a points-based wellness-day program and a WeightWatchers nutrition program that averaged 314 subscribers in 2025 with about 244 net pounds lost.

Benefits staff reported a change in prescription administration to a vendor referenced as AeroRx; staff said the vendor operates a concierge-style service and has produced savings. Staff presented one case where vendor assistance yielded what they described as approximately $290,000 in annual savings for a single patient through a manufacturer's assistance program. In a budget-to-date comparison, staff said switching from Optum (January–June) to AeroRx for the same period resulted in about $396,000 in lower expenditures.

Tammy (surname not provided), who addressed the Samaritan Fund, said the board-authorized program allowed several employees with very high medical costs to move off the county plan and into Samaritan Fund arrangements. Tammy said six employees and about 10 total lives used the Samaritan Fund this year. Staff estimated the county’s gross plan savings at about $3,000,000 for the year and said the plan paid roughly $400,000 to administer the Samaritan program, producing an estimated net plan savings of about $2,600,000.

Staff emphasized prevention programs and noted the county now has a quick-care clinic served in-network by UnitedHealthcare, which staff said can reduce costs for minor illnesses and some immunizations compared with urgent-care visits. Staff also noted the county has an employee-assistance program averaging roughly 5.5% utilization.

Commissioners discussed whether incentives for community fitness memberships or other prevention measures could be adopted and agreed to ask staff to return with more analysis. The benefits team said it will prepare additional information for commissioners as the county begins work on 2026 rates and renewals.

Near the end of the discussion a procedural motion was called for; the transcript records a motion to approve without specifying the exact text of the motion, mover, second or recorded tally.