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Vandenberg County switches employee health plan to UnitedHealthcare, citing $835,000 renewal savings
Summary
The Vandenberg County Board of Commissioners voted Oct. 29 to move the county’s employee health plan from Anthem to UnitedHealthcare after a benefits consultant said the UHC bid would lower renewal costs by about $835,000 compared with Anthem’s renewal. Dental and vision renewals were approved separately as voluntary employee plans.
The Vandenberg County Board of Commissioners voted on Oct. 29 to change its primary employee health plan to UnitedHealthcare following a presentation by Chris Maynard of Shepherd Insurance.
Maynard said Anthem’s renewal offer initially started near a 30% increase and settled at about a 16% increase after negotiations. UnitedHealthcare provided a fully insured bid at roughly 5.3% over current rates, which Maynard said translates to about $835,000 in annual savings compared with Anthem’s proposal. With the county’s existing “difference card” layered in, Maynard said the county’s total cost under UnitedHealthcare would be roughly 3.7% over current spending — about $6.5 million total versus roughly $7.3 million under Anthem’s quoted renewal.
“UnitedHealthcare has a Choice Plus network, which is their largest national network. You should have no issues in and around the area,” Maynard said.
County staff confirmed that the change would apply to eligible employees and retirees covered by the plan (roughly 280 employees covered under the affected plan); other county employees on separate plans would not be affected. Staff said the employer/employee contribution structure typically remains a 90/10 split and that employees choosing voluntary dental or vision plans would pay the stated incremental premium increases.
Commissioners approved the motion to adopt UnitedHealthcare as the county’s underlying medical carrier. The board also approved separate motions to renew voluntary dental and vision plans; the dental renewal was described as approximately $1.30 per month more for enrolled employees and the vision plan was a modest 34¢ monthly increase for employees.
The board directed county staff to work with the insurer and Shepherd Insurance to begin open enrollment outreach and schedule employee meetings to explain any card or network changes. Commissioners noted that benefits and copays remain unchanged under the proposed transition.
The motion carried unanimously. Implementation steps and open‑enrollment materials were to be coordinated by county staff and distributed to employees the following week.
