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Muskego council approves 2026 health-insurance contract after reversing proposed deductible increases
Summary
The City of Muskego Common Council approved a contract with WCA Group Health Trust for 2026 after amending the proposal to remove increases to employee deductibles and family out-of-pocket caps. Council members and city employees debated trade-offs between plan design savings and employee costs during an extended discussion prior to the vote.
The City of Muskego Common Council approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with WCA Group Health Trust for plan year 2026 after the council voted to remove proposed increases in employee deductibles and family out-of-pocket caps.
The vote followed a public comment period in which Lieutenant Jim Rozeski, a 24-year city employee, warned that the changes would “cause tremendous stress among employees” and urged the council to reconsider items that would raise co-pays, deductibles or medication costs. Rozeski said the police department and other city staff already face compressed wages and that shifting more costs to employees would worsen retention pressures.
City benefits staff explained the proposed design changes during council discussion. Kate, a staff presenter, told the council that prescription coverage for preferred drugs would move from a $25 copay to $40 and that nonpreferred prescriptions would rise from $55 to $80; specialty drugs would have coinsurance of 25% capped at $250. In response to concerns about family deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, Alderman Madden moved to remove the proposed increases, a motion that passed on a roll-call vote, 4–3 (Alderpersons Bryce, Schrader, Dilge and Madden in favor; Wolf, Hamill and Decker opposed).
Mayor and staff said the design changes plus the optional Family Advantage enrollment were projected to produce net savings for the city. Staff said the overall plan changes, if implemented with the Family Advantage option and HRA funding, would result in a slight net savings compared with the prior year; removing the deductible/out-of-pocket increase reduced those savings by roughly $28,000, which the council covered through operating budget adjustments.
After amending the proposal, the council approved the insurance agreement as amended. The resolution authorizes the mayor to execute the agreement with WCA Group Health Trust for 2026 plan-year coverage.
The council directed staff to provide more information on how the changes would affect employees with specialty medications and on the mechanics and estimated uptake of the Family Advantage option.
The meeting record shows a mix of support and concern from council members: some described the consultant—s role in negotiating premiums down and urged employees to consider higher deductibles as a tool to reduce unnecessary utilization; others said the city should not shift costs onto lower-paid employees and that wages must be examined alongside benefit comparisons.
Next steps: staff will finalize contract documents and implement the plan design approved by the council; they will report any enrollment-related updates or unanticipated impacts at future meetings.
