Pulaski County fiscal court approved switching its employee health coverage to UnitedHealthcare for the 2026 plan year, following a presentation from county broker Kelly Wilson and a committee recommendation.

Wilson, who identified herself as an agent with NiKirk Insurance, outlined renewal quotes from carriers. She said Anthem's initial renewal request approached 25% before negotiations; after re-quoting and negotiations, Anthem's final offer in the meeting record was about a 9.5% increase, while UnitedHealthcare quoted roughly a 2% increase over current rates. "Renegotiated with Anthem, got them down to 15. United came on down a little further to 2%," Wilson said. She told the court switching carriers would translate to roughly a $19-per-employee increase over current payroll costs for the county's employee-only coverage.

The health-insurance committee also recommended offering an optional second plan with a $5,000 deductible and 80/20 coinsurance to reduce dependent premiums. Wilson explained that the county would apply a $290 credit (the difference in employer contribution) toward employees' dependent costs if they elected the second plan; she gave an example of a payroll deduction estimate for a dependent scenario.

A member moved to adopt the committee recommendation to move to UnitedHealthcare and the court approved the motion by voice vote. The court also approved a separate motion to designate Nackert as the county's insurance agent for enrollment activities.

The decision follows the committee process described in the meeting record; the court did not adopt any changes to contribution formulas beyond the plan selection at this meeting and referred open-enrollment logistics to the broker and county staff.