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Council moves city health plans to calendar year and keeps 100% city-paid premiums
Summary
Council approved switching the city's medical plan year to January–December 2026 with Blue KC (comparable plan design), Delta Dental and VSP, and authorized the city to continue paying 100% of employee premiums. Staff told council Blue KC offered a 9.9% renewal rate less than budgeted and presented contribution-split options.
The Spring Hill City Council voted to transition the city's employee medical plan year to a January–December cycle starting in 2026 and to remain on a comparable Blue KC medical plan while continuing to pay 100% of employee premium costs for medical, with Delta Dental and VSP continuing on their existing terms.
Finance/Human Resources staff member Jones told council that Blue KC provided a renewal quote of 9.9% effective January and that the quoted renewal was below what the city had budgeted. Jones presented several employer/employee premium-split options and said the staff recommendation was to switch the plan year and have the city continue paying 100% of the premium. "The recommendation from staff is to transition to the January to December plan year and to have the city continue to pay the 100% of the plan," Jones said.
Council members discussed employee retention and the competitive advantage of the city's fully paid premium benefit; several members said maintaining the benefit helps with recruitment and retention but acknowledged it may be difficult to sustain indefinitely if premiums rise. After discussion, council moved to approve transitioning to a January 2026 plan year with Blue KC comparable plan design, Delta Dental and VSP, and to continue paying 100% of the premium costs; the motion passed 4-0-0.
Staff will coordinate the transition, notify employees of plan-year changes and finalize contribution and payroll administration details.
