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Commission approves modest increases to 2026 health and dental premiums
Summary
After a presentation by HR, the commission approved a 3% increase to health premiums and a 4% increase to dental premiums for 2026 to cover projected claims and administrative fee increases; staff said the per-pay-period employee impact is small.
Minnehaha County commissioners on Oct. 21 approved recommended premium changes for 2026: a 3% increase for health insurance and a 4% increase for dental coverage.
Carrie Deaver of Human Resources presented the proposal, explaining it reflected projected claims and administrative-fee changes. She said dental claims trend about 6% and that the county projects roughly $612,000 in dental costs for 2026 when factoring claim trends and a modest administrative fee increase. On health coverage, Deaver said the county expects about $8.9 million in health claims for 2026 after stop-loss reimbursements and that she used a 10% trend on health claims and 15% for stop-loss in projections. “Based on where our enrollment is at right now, we would need a 3% premium increase to cover that,” Deaver said.
Deaver also explained the county’s stop-loss insurance — which covers individual claims over $100,000 — and noted pharmacy claims are rising. She offered estimated employee impacts: a 3% health increase would cost about $2.74 per pay period for single coverage and about $9.73 per pay period for family coverage.
Commissioners asked about the county’s reserve and the possibility of another premium holiday. Deaver said staff had offered a premium holiday earlier in 2025 and that the county’s target reserve is about $4.7 million; she said the fund was over $5 million but that the plan is to use a conservative blend of premium increases and occasional holidays to reach reserve targets. “My goal here is to bring that reserve fund back down to a more realistic level on what we need for claims, and yet be conservative on how we're adjusting this number,” Deaver said.
Commissioner Weinberg moved to approve the recommendation and a second was recorded; the motion passed by roll call.
What happens next: Human Resources will implement the new premium rates for the county’s open-enrollment period and communicate employee cost impacts.
