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Board authorizes Southern Benefits to evaluate county employee health plans and access claims data for 2026 budgeting
Summary
The board authorized Southern Benefits Solutions, a local employee-benefits firm, to receive county health-plan data so the company can prepare alternative proposals for the county's 2026 employee benefits. The review will be no-cost and aimed at evaluating plan design and cost savings options before the August budget hearings.
Harrison County supervisors authorized county administration to provide plan data to Southern Benefits Solutions, a local benefits broker, so the firm can analyze the county's self-funded employee health plan and produce competitive alternatives for the 2026 plan year.
Jay Oberleves and Jeff Bridal of Southern Benefits told the board they are a local independent broker with about 25 years of experience and that they would perform the analysis at no charge to the county. They said the work will involve collecting enrollment and claims data, analyzing plan performance and pricing fully insured and alternative self-funded options, and recommending benefit and communication improvements aimed at cost-effectiveness while preserving employee access.
Several supervisors asked about timing for budget hearings; Southern Benefits asked for immediate access so it can produce usable numbers before the county's August budget hearings. The board voted to authorize the county administrator to provide data to Southern Benefits for the study and analysis. The authorization is expressly nonbinding: the board asked for a comparative report to inform the 2026 budget process, not to commit to any vendor or plan change.
The board recorded the motion and vote in open session and directed administration to manage data confidentiality and share results with the board in time for budget deliberations.
