Haslet to absorb 25% jump in health premiums, council asks staff to model extra employer contributions

The Haslet City Council voted unanimously Nov. 10 to renew its employee benefits and have the city cover a marketwide 25% increase in health-insurance premiums.

City Finance Director Marcy Lamb told the council that carriers returned renewal proposals showing roughly a 25% increase for the city’s health plan, with smaller changes to dental and disability products. Lamb and the city’s broker, Heath Hagood of Hub International, presented benchmarking and scenarios that showed the city’s current plans rank above average on several plan features and that taking the increases internally would preserve benefit generosity.

“The carriers are showing a 25% increase across the market,” Lamb said during the presentation. Hagood said Haslet’s plans are among the top tiers and that, in the city’s size category, plan design changes are limited by carrier filings.

Council members pressed staff about prior direction to explore expanded dependent coverage. Several members asked whether the council could layer in an additional employer contribution for spouse/child/family coverage rather than redesigning plans. Staff cautioned that midyear plan design changes are constrained and that any additional employer contribution would raise the city’s fiscal exposure if more employees enroll dependents.

Councilmember [name withheld in transcript] moved to approve the renewal and absorb the increase; the motion, which specified funding to come from the city’s contingency balance, passed unanimously. The mayor’s motion language and staff accounting identified the additional amount for the current renewal as approximately $155,330.18, to be drawn from contingency.

Council directed Hagood and staff to model specific employer-contribution scenarios — $200, $300 and $400 per month — for spouse/child/family coverage and to return with cost estimates at the Dec. 15 meeting so members could consider whether to add monthly employer contributions in addition to absorbing the carrier increase.

The vote leaves existing plan designs intact for January 1 renewals while putting the question of expanded employer subsidy on the December agenda. Staff said the city will notify carriers within the timing constraints for the Jan. 1 effective date.

Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 1288; discussion and vote concluded at SEG 2791.