Caroline County will absorb 2026 health-insurance increase and switch to Delta Dental

The Caroline County Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 13 to have the county absorb the projected 11.5% increase in employee medical premiums for 2026 and separately approved switching the county dental plan to Delta Dental with several proposed enhancements.

Supervisor Thomas moved for the county to cover the full medical premium increase so employees would see no additional contribution. After discussion about taxpayer impact and employee retention, the board approved the motion by voice vote. The presenter had described the total county impact under that option as about $667,000, noting the figure is based on current enrollments and could change with open enrollment.

Separately, the board approved adopting Delta Dental for the county dental plan. The benefits presentation had outlined three enhancements to the dental coverage: raising the annual dental benefit and the lifetime orthodontia maximum from $1,250 to $2,000, and adding adult orthodontia coverage (the current plan covers orthodontia only for children 19 and under). The presenter said the Delta Dental package would include those enhancements and would reduce the county’s dental budget by almost $19,000 compared with keeping the existing carrier, while Anthem’s comparable proposal would have increased county costs by about $62,000.

The board directed staff to implement the selected options and proceed with open-enrollment communication. The presenter cautioned that the dollar figures are estimates tied to current enrollment and that final costs will depend on employee plan elections during open enrollment.

Next steps: staff will finalize implementation with the carriers and provide enrollment materials to employees; open enrollment was noted to begin in February.