St. Mary Parish board approves renewed employee health plan after insurer lowers proposed increase

The St. Mary Parish School Board voted Thursday to renew its fully insured commercial group health plan for the 2026 benefit year after the district’s benefits consultant secured a reduced insurer increase.

Mister Perez, the district’s agent and consultant for employee benefits, told the board Blue Cross initially proposed roughly a 5% renewal but “honored the appeal and revised the increase from 5% to 2 and a half percent,” and that after final computations the district’s effective rate increase is about 2.4%. Perez said that change lowered the budgetary impact from an estimated $634,000 to “a little bit under $300,000,” and that there would be no increase to employee premiums.

Board members confirmed the renewal covers the benefit year Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026. Miss LaSalle moved to approve the recommendation; Miss Brent seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote; individual roll-call votes were not recorded in the public minutes.

Why it matters: the lower-than-expected rate will reduce pressure on the district’s operating budget for the coming year and keeps employee premium contributions unchanged, at least for the one-year policy term. The board approved the renewal as a one-year action; future renewals will be subject to subsequent negotiations and board action.

Board discussion was limited to clarifying questions about term length and the insurer’s appeal result; no amendments or alternate proposals were offered. The board’s motion to renew appears to be administrative in nature and moves the contract renewal forward without altering employee cost-sharing.

Next steps: the renewal will take effect for the 2026 benefit year per the schedule Perez outlined.