Laredo ISD health plan running over budget; trustees briefed on high-cost claims, drug costs and projected shortfalls

LAREDO ISD trustees heard a quarterly update on June 5 from Hub International about the district's self-funded medical plan that showed rising claims, an increase in pharmacy costs and high-cost individual claimants driving a budget shortfall.

Liz Bebo, an employee-benefits consultant with Hub International, told trustees that "on a fiscal year basis, the medical plan cost is $885 per employee per month," and that calendar-year claims through April ran higher, at about $968 per employee per month. She said the cost pressure is concentrated in a small number of very large claimants: "we have 9 claimants that are over $125,000" through April and the plan's stop-loss policy has an individual deductible of $250,000.

The presentation flagged pharmacy spending as another driver: Bebo said pharmacy…