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Heath moves medical and dental coverage to Cigna after RFP; projected overall premium rise limited to low single digits
Summary
After a competitive RFP, council approved moving the city's 2026 medical plan to Cigna (EPO) and renewing dental with Cigna; staff and consultant said the recommended package would hold combined medical and dental cost growth to roughly 2.2–2.4% for 2026, much lower than the UnitedHealthcare renewal presented earlier.
Heath City Council voted to accept staff and consultant recommendations to switch the city’s medical and dental coverage for 2026 to Cigna.
Andrew Wiger of HUB International, the city’s benefits consultant, presented a competitive RFP analysis. Wiger said UnitedHealthcare, the city’s current medical carrier, submitted a renewal that initially reflected a ~32% increase; after negotiation the UHC renewal could be lowered to roughly 18.7%. The consultant recommended instead moving to a Cigna EPO plan that closely mirrors existing benefits for in‑network care, excludes out‑of‑network coverage (with ER care protected), and reduces overall cost pressure.
"The total increase for 2026 is a 2.2% increase" under the recommended Cigna package, Wiger told council, summarizing modeling of enrollment tiers and plan designs. Staff also highlighted an up‑front $25,000 bundling credit and a $2,500 one‑time wellness allowance offered by the vendor as part of the negotiation and recommended awarding dental to Cigna at a 5% renewal.
Council moved and approved the recommendation to implement Cigna’s EPO medical plan and renew dental with Cigna; the motion passed unanimously.
What happens next: staff will move forward with implementation steps, begin open enrollment for employees with the new carrier effective Jan. 1, 2026, and note there will be minor member disruption only for out‑of‑network usage since Cigna’s network matched 99% of the city’s providers during the disruption analysis.
Key details: the city’s current total employer + employee premium cost for medical is about $835,000 and combined medical+dental spend is over $900,000. The recommended change was presented as cost‑conservative relative to market norms that showed renewals of 7–10% or higher.
