Board reviews group health claim update; Delta Dental renewal at 10.8% and vision plan sees slight increase

At the Nov. 13 meeting the Saint Mary Parish School Board received a monthly update on employee benefits and plan renewals.

Benefits consultant Mr. Perez told the board the packet had reversed two line items: medical claims were actually $125,555 and prescription drug claims $487,117, for a correct combined total of $612,672. He said a prior-month claim of $233,108 had been reversed (he suspected subrogation with Medicare or Medicaid) and that, with that claim backed out, the district's October loss ratio was 57.72% (it would have been about 79.7% if the claim were included).

On voluntary employee-paid plans, Delta Dental submitted a 10.8% premium increase for 2026. Mr. Perez said the district shopped the market, found higher quotes elsewhere, and negotiated with Delta Dental a two-year rate guarantee so the district will not see another adjustment until Jan. 2028. The board took no action on the voluntary dental plan at the meeting.

Mr. Perez also reported a slight increase to the Davis Vision plan through Blue Cross; the vision plan is entirely employee-paid and the district did not re-market it because some local network providers (for example, Walmart Vision) are not included in other networks.

Mr. Perez noted the district completed open enrollment and distributed benefit statements to more than 1,200 employees.

Board members did not take action on the renewals at the meeting and asked only clarifying questions about the reported numbers.