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Kossuth County reviews health fund shortfall, considers higher contributions and a high-deductible plan
Summary
Supervisors heard a staff presentation showing the county's self-insurance health fund is under pressure and discussed raising total contributions, asking single employees to contribute, and offering a high-deductible plan with incentives to shift costs and rebuild the fund.
Kossuth County supervisors reviewed the county's self-insurance (health) fund and debated changes to employee contributions and plan design to arrest recent losses. At a budget workshop, staff presented audited balances and projections showing the fund's January balance near $2.23 million and a maximum estimated liability of roughly $3.49 million, figures that prompted discussion of rate increases and plan changes.
The county's self-insurance presenter told the board the most recent Wellmark/Walmart invoice for claims and fees was about $220,051.28 and that projected FY27 expenditures for the traditional plan totaled roughly $3.38 million while a high-deductible option would be nearer $2.86 million. "If we adjust deductibles and encourage movement to a high-deductible plan, we can reduce employer-side costs," the presenter said, summarizing actuarial comparisons and stop-loss effects.
Board members weighed three tools to improve the fund: increase total contributions (a 15% increase was modeled but shown insufficient alone to close a roughly $100,000 gap), change employee contributions (proposals included a flat $100 monthly charge for single coverage and larger proportional increases for family plans), and offer a high-deductible plan paired with employer HSA contributions or matching incentives to encourage voluntary switches.
Members debated fairness and incentives. Some supervisors said single-plan employees should contribute a portion because county and private employers commonly require employee premiums; others argued a percentage-based contribution is fairer than a flat dollar increase because family coverage value differs markedly from single coverage. The board asked staff for county comparisons from the ISAC survey and for more precise quotes on high-deductible plan designs, HSA-match options and the fund's projected ending balances under several scenarios.
No final policy change was adopted; staff committed to return benchmarked county comparisons, updated vendor quotes, and modeled contribution scenarios so the board can decide before the statutory deadlines for budget certification.
