Lakeville board approves medical and dental renewal with 15% projected medical-premium increase

The Lakeville Area Schools board approved a recommendation to renew the district's medical and dental coverage and to add pharmacy benefit managers, a move staff said would both lower some costs and help rebuild the district's self-funded claims reserve.

The district's consultant with National Insurance Services recommended retaining Blue Cross Blue Shield as the medical carrier and adding CuraScript Specialty and Express Scripts as the pharmacy benefit manager. The recommendation projected roughly $2,000,000 in annual savings by combining these pharmacy services, the presentation said.

Board members pressed staff on the recommendation's proposal to raise aggregate plan premiums by 15% to respond to higher claims activity in the most recent 12 months. Director Brian Thompson asked whether a 15% increase would restore reserves to prior levels; the consultant said the increase is designed both to cover higher claims activity and to begin recovering the fund balance but would not immediately restore it to prior highs.

Superintendent Baumann (as presented in the staff materials) and the insurance consultant said the district has experienced elevated claims (from roughly $30 million historically to about $35 million in the last year) and that the plan's fund balance dropped substantially; the premium change is intended to stabilize funding and slowly rebuild the reserve.

For dental coverage, the board accepted the recommendation that Delta Dental continue as provider with a roughly 3% premium increase. Trustees voted to approve the renewals as presented; the meeting records a unanimous voice vote in favor of the renewal motion.

Board materials included a March 10 staff presentation and an actuarial rationale provided by the insurance consultant; staff said ongoing evaluation of cost-management programs will continue through the district's Insurance Committee.