Caldwell benefits committee recommends insurance changes; negotiators approve package to include Allied Health virtual care

The Caldwell benefits committee presented a recommended insurance package to negotiators and the membership voted to advance the package for inclusion in the contract package under negotiation.

The package keeps Blue Cross as the primary medical vendor, makes vision coverage optional (employee-funded), and proposes replacing the current Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with an Allied Health vendor that offers virtual urgent care, mental-health therapy and psychiatric medication management with low or no co-pays for many virtual services. The committee also recommended adding a third dental option (Northwest Dental) as a voluntary employee choice.

The committee explained vendor outreach: PacificSource declined to submit a competitive quote; Regents (via the Idaho School District Benefit Trust) submitted a proposal with limited rate guarantees; the district—enefit committee recommended staying with the trust and making targeted changes to plan design to control premium increases. Committee members noted prior annual increases (examples given: 8.69% in 2021, 9.8% in 2022-23, 6.9% in 2023-24) and said the district had historically absorbed increases where possible; this year a modest increase will be passed to employees on some plans.

What passed: Negotiators moved the benefits package to a vote and approved it by consensus during the session. The package also recommended making vision optional (employee-paid) and replacing the current EAP with Allied Health (which would provide similar counseling services and expanded telehealth capabilities). The committee proposed keeping the HSA plan design intact but noted a potential employee-premium increase for some options. It also suggested envisioning the Allied Health product as an option employees could extend to substitutes (as an incentive).

Next steps: The benefits recommendations will be folded into the contract package that the negotiating team will circulate to members; final ratification will follow the standard membership and board approval process. Committee leaders said they would continue to monitor vendor quotes and finalize implementation details.

Representative quote: "...we'd like to still offer [vision], but our employees would pay 100% of that," a committee member said when discussing the cost trade-offs.

The package was approved in-session by the negotiating group and will proceed as part of the wider contract negotiation and ratification process.