Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Employee Benefits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
HR recommends keeping 3% contribution and strategies to manage an 8.5% health cost increase
Summary
Boise HR presented a benefits strategy that recommends maintaining the city's 3% contribution to the healthcare trust, pursuing RFPs, a dependent eligibility audit and care coordination to address a forecast 8.5% increase in plan costs and close an estimated $1.5–3.0 million gap.
City HR staff recommended keeping the employer healthcare contribution at 3% and outlined strategies to manage an estimated 8.5% increase in plan costs for FY27.
Stacy, who oversees HR benefits, said benchmarking shows Boise’s benefits are competitive and that employees pay comparatively low premiums. The city anticipates an 8.5% increase in medical and pharmacy costs in 2027; Stacy said the plan cost increase is estimated at about $2.4 million while the city’s 3% budgeted contribution covers roughly $880,000, leaving a remaining gap that staff plan to close through cost‑management strategies.
Stacy described three primary strategies: (1) issue RFPs for the third‑party administrator, pharmacy benefit manager and stop‑loss coverage to secure better terms or carve‑out options (projected savings $800,000–$1.8M); (2) conduct a dependent eligibility audit and strengthen onboarding verification (projected savings $500,000–$900,000); and (3) evaluate vendor care coordination and other programs for ROI and health outcomes (additional savings potential). Combined, staff estimated savings in the range of $1.5–$3.0 million.
Council members raised concerns about last year’s deductible and out‑of‑pocket increases and urged staff to consider dollar impacts on lower‑income employees. Stacy said staff do not recommend changes to plan deductibles or out‑of‑pocket maximums for FY27 and described safeguards for the dependent eligibility audit, including education, a long runway for remediation, and third‑party support to help employees find alternatives if needed.
Stacy said the RFP and audit work will proceed in FY27 and that staff will produce a five‑year healthcare forecast with the health care trustees to increase transparency on projected plan changes over time.
