Staff projects smaller health‑insurance spike and proposes deductible changes with HSA offsets

District benefits staff told the Finance & Resource Committee July 16 that they now project a health‑insurance renewal near 12% for the coming year, lower than the 15–17% range the district had budgeted. To mitigate the increase, staff proposed changes to plan design that would raise deductibles and pair those increases with district contributions to employees’ health savings accounts (HSAs), which staff said would reduce the net out‑of‑pocket exposure and bring the net premium impact down (staff cited an illustrative net overall plan‑cost increase of about 8%).

Staff reviewed current plan details: Plan A currently lists deductibles of $1,500 (single) and $3,000 (family). Staff noted a federal minimum threshold for HSA‑qualifying high‑deductible plans and said the proposed Plan A deductible would be $2,500/$5,000, with district HSA contributions intended to lower the net deductible for employees. "So really the net deductible would be $4,000," a staff presenter said when explaining how the HSA contribution offsets employee costs.

Benefits staff said they will host multiple virtual education sessions (the first scheduled for the next day in the transcript) and will co‑host outreach with the union. Staff also described an upcoming short plan year (Oct. 2025–June 30, 2026) to realign the district’s insurance calendar to a July–June cycle thereafter; staff said the district will fund HSA contributions on the adjusted schedule.

Committee members asked about timing, open enrollment (planned for August–September) and how HSA contributions are applied; staff clarified that HSA amounts are employee‑owned and that the district’s contributions remain with employees if they leave. Staff said final plan recommendations will come to the board at the August meetings for approval.

The committee did not take a vote on benefits at this meeting; staff will return in August with final plan text and implementation details.