Broker tells Dickinson County pharmacy costs are driving claims; recommends staying fully insured for now

Representatives from UK/Bukati reviewed Dickinson County's employee health claims at the July 3 commission meeting and told commissioners the county's recent high loss ratio is driven largely by pharmacy and a single very large medical claim.

UK representative Emily Albers, who led the presentation with colleague Courtney Bickelmeyer, said the county's current arrangement with Blue Cross of Kansas is preferable to switching to a self-funded model at this time because the county still carries elevated claims and pharmacy trends are volatile. "Call our team. We are your advocates," Albers said, urging employees to use the broker's local service rather than carrier call centers for enrollment and claims help.

Albers and Bickelmeyer summarized plan performance and carrier history. They said the county moved from the state plan to UnitedHealthcare and later returned to Blue Cross. The presenters showed that medical spend while on the state plan was about $1.6 million and fell to roughly $1.2 million under a fully insured UnitedHealthcare placement before a heavy UHC renewal;…