Appleton Area School District cites steep rise in health insurance costs, from $29.5M to about $41.4M

Superintendent Greg Hartjes said in a video that the Appleton Area School District’s health insurance costs have surged, worsening budget strain.

“So you can see we paid 29 and a half million in 2022 for our health plan. We’re going to pay 41, point 4 roughly, this year, 2025,” Hartjes said, describing a jump that has exceeded earlier cost estimates and stayed high despite multiple cost‑management efforts.

Hartjes said the district moved to a narrow network in 2020 to control costs, and that the carrier the district relied on (NuGen) went out of business in 2022. After failing to find a carrier offering lower rates, the district shifted to self‑funding for 2023–25. He said those steps and employee cost‑management behaviors limited some increases but ultimately did not prevent a substantial rise in expenses.

The superintendent described health plan expenditures as the district’s second‑largest budget item after salaries and said the 2025 run‑out projection is significantly higher than prior estimates. Hartjes framed the spike as a primary reason the district is pursuing other savings and reviewing budget options ahead of an April 7 referendum.

Hartjes presented the change in plan structure and the carrier collapse as the proximate causes of the increase and did not announce a new vendor or a specific mitigation plan in the video. He said the district’s run‑out figures extend through about March and that final totals will depend on claims experience.