Adams County approves Ardelis stop-loss renewal and a one-year trial cap on employee copays

Adams County commissioners approved the county’s stop-loss insurance renewal and agreed to a one-year pilot to limit employee out-of-pocket copays.

Shannon presented the stop-loss renewal options and recommended retaining Ardelis as the county’s stop-loss carrier for 2025. Shannon said the renewal was approximately $35,000 higher than a prior quote—driven by one additional laser provision—and that the Ardelis offer was time-limited. Commissioners moved to approve Ardelis for 2025; the motion was seconded and approved by voice.

On plan design, staff proposed setting a maximum annual copay exposure for employees. The proposal discussed was $40 per office visit capped at five visits (a $200 annual cap), after which the plan would cover eligible office-visit costs at 100%. Shannon said Allied (the plan administrator) can implement the cap in its system and can also change mammogram age tiers (the transcript records Allied’s colonoscopy/sigmoidoscopy preventive limit at age 45 and the option to lower mammogram coverage to age 35 if commissioners choose).

Commissioners discussed trade-offs between lower copays and potential utilization effects, then voted to try the $200 annual cap for a year and asked staff to return 2025 actuarial data showing cost impacts and utilization changes. One commissioner asked for data at the end of 2025 to evaluate whether the change should continue.

What’s next: staff will implement the stop-loss renewal and work with Allied to code the copay cap for the 2025 plan year; commissioners requested a year-end report on plan costs and utilization.