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Lubbock County considers higher health and workers’ comp budgets as claims rise; staff offers premium proposals
Summary
Human Resources presented budget projections showing rising medical and pharmacy claims, proposals to adjust employee premium splits, and unchanged HSA employer contributions tied to fiscal planning; commissioners discussed timing and links to COLA and merit considerations.
Lubbock County human resources presented projections and budget requests for workers’ compensation and the county health care fund at the commissioners’ June 26 work session, citing higher recent claims and two premium proposals for the court to consider.
The nut of the discussion: rising claims and medical inflation have prompted HR to propose raising the county’s budget for claims costs and ask the court to consider modest increases in employer and employee premium contributions alongside cost-of-living and merit decisions.
Melanie Hall, the county’s human resources director, told the court the county’s medical-plan participation had grown about 5 percent and that recent claim experience put the county’s 12-month claims increase at roughly 20.1 percent. She said the county’s budget request increases the employee health-benefit claims line to $13 million and asks for a higher HSA employer contribution in FY26 — from $1.5 million last year to $1.725 million in the request.
Hall outlined two premium proposals to shift employer/employee cost splits. Proposal A would move employee-only coverage to a 95/5 employer/employee split and keep family coverage at an 80/20 split; Proposal B would move to roughly 94/6 for employee-only and 79/21 for family coverage. Staff estimated the county’s share would rise under Proposal A by roughly $57,700 compared with the current projected employer costs.
On stop-loss and workers’ compensation, HR said the county’s excess workers’ compensation retention is $1 million and that the county’s specific medical stop-loss threshold is $325,000 per member; HR projected an excess premium near $315,000 based on estimated payroll. HR also reported that in FY24 the county experienced 156 indemnity claims (lost-time), 75 medical-only claims and 77 report-only claims; through May of the current fiscal year HR reported 104 claims total (3 indemnity, 40 medical, 61 report-only).
Commissioners pressed on timing and fairness. One commissioner asked that any premium change be considered in tandem with the court’s deliberations on COLA and merit increases so employees would not effectively take a pay cut. “If we’re going to go with proposal A or proposal B, my recommendation would be proposal A. If we’re going with that, it must be tied into the COLA and merit raises as well,” the commissioner said.
HR said any premium-change decisions would take effect with the calendar-year insurance contract in January 2026 and that staff will continue monitoring claims on a monthly basis and recommended quarterly insurance committee reviews going forward.
No vote was taken. The presentation left three clear follow-ups: commissioners must set COLA and merit policy; HR will return with final actuarial recommendations and one year of claims from UMR; and any premium changes would be tied to the court’s decision on employee pay adjustments.
—Reporters’ note: figures cited in this article come from HR’s budget presentation to the court and include staff-provided projections and claims-history summaries.
