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Claremore council approves renewal of employee insurance plan, keeps benefits terms unchanged for 2025-26
Summary
The Claremore City Council approved the city's employee insurance benefits renewal, maintaining current premiums and deductibles while moving administration to a new third-party administrator.
The Claremore City Council voted to approve the city’s insurance benefits renewal for fiscal year 2025–26, keeping employee premiums and deductibles unchanged while shifting administration to a different third-party administrator, city staff said.
City benefits presenter Mr. Gortney told the council the city will remain self‑insured but will move medical-plan administration to Edison Health as a third‑party administrator. He said the insurer procurement process included bids from multiple carriers and vendors for medical, pharmacy, dental, life and vision coverage.
Why it matters: The transition aims to reduce fixed administrative costs and better manage rising pharmacy spending, a trend Mr. Gortney and HR staff said has driven recent claim increases nationwide. Ashley Hickman of HR told the council the goal was to avoid negative impacts for covered employees; she said the vendor change will permit most employees to keep their current doctors and that she had run a disruption report showing minimal provider disruption.
Key details from the meeting: Mr. Gortney said the city received bids from roughly 20 A‑rated carriers and that pharmacy costs are the largest inflation driver; specialty drugs such as Humira and Cosentyx were cited as examples. He said the plan will keep co‑pays and deductibles the same for employees, and that vendor selection included a separate open bid for PBM and pharmacy services, with PBM vendor work intended to reduce drug costs. Councilors asked about cost savings under self‑insurance; Gortney said the city’s increases under self‑insurance have been lower than market trends.
Council action: A motion to approve the renewal passed on a roll call with recorded ‘yes’ votes from Erwin, Bobby, Kata, Bowman, Michael and Long. The motion had no recorded dissent and no amendment to the plan’s benefit levels was made at the meeting.
Next steps: Staff said the plan transition will begin July 1 and that the city will receive an audit and draft budget materials ahead of the May budget hearing. HR said it would produce member communications and disruption analyses to ensure continuity of care for employees.
