Walla Walla County approves switch to Kaiser Access PPO for non‑represented employees

Walla Walla County commissioners voted Oct. 28 to change the county's health insurance offering for non-represented employees from the current plan to a Kaiser Access PPO arranged through the county's pooled insurance fund.

Josh Griffith, Walla Walla County human resources and risk manager, told the board the switch would tap the First Choice Health Network and that the Kaiser Access PPO demonstrated substantially lower premium and out-of-pocket costs for many employees. "We're saving them close to $24,000 by changing into this other plan," Griffith said during his presentation, citing plan and VEBA comparisons prepared through the county's pooled insurer (WCIF).

Commissioner Clayton praised the side-by-side comparison of plans, saying the change "will benefit the employee's bottom line" even if the county's overall costs did not decline substantially. Commissioners asked about network access outside Walla Walla — including Tri-Cities — and about Kaiser's historical rate increases; Griffith said the county is part of a larger purchasing pool (WCIF) that helps moderate future rate increases and noted the plan includes a large local provider network. He also explained how the county's annual contribution is applied to employees' benefits and how leftover funds flow into VEBA/HRA accounts that employees can use for medical expenses.

Griffith provided plan examples from WCIF materials showing large differences in premiums and employee out-of-pocket liability between the county's current Premera options and the proposed Kaiser Access PPO. He said the lowest Premera single plan option would total roughly $1,080 per month (including dental/vision/long-term disability) and that family-tier costs in the comparison approached $2,956 per month; by contrast he said a comparable Kaiser single plan would cost about $300 per month out of pocket in his example, leaving more funds to accumulate in VEBA accounts. Griffith acknowledged some figures were approximate and based on WCIF rate projections.

After the presentation and brief questions, Commissioner Clayton moved to approve Proposal 2025-10-28 (Human Resources/Risk Management) to change the insurance provider for non-represented employees; the chair seconded and the motion carried on a 2-0 voice vote with Commissioner Kimbell absent. The board did not specify an effective date in the discussion.

The board's action was procedural approval of the provider change; staff will complete any follow-up implementation steps and notices required to finalize enrollment and plan transition.