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San Felipe-Del Rio CISD told health-plan renewals could raise employer costs by up to $2M
Summary
An insurance consultant told trustees the district’s high 2025 loss ratio produced steep renewal scenarios (27–39%), with one option translating to roughly a $2 million annual employer cost increase; trustees discussed using fund balance and surveying employees before deciding.
Lexi Young, an insurance consultant from Brown & Brown, told the San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District board on Tuesday that the district’s 2025 health-plan performance showed a 100% loss ratio — meaning premiums paid were roughly equal to claims paid — which is driving unusually large renewal increases.
Young said an initial renewal offered a 39% increase. She presented two alternate plan designs: a softer option (which reduced the increase to about 31% by raising some deductibles and out-of-pocket limits) and a more drastic design (which would raise the HMO deductible from $2,500 to $4,000, among other changes) that she said would produce roughly a 27% premium increase under the district’s current contribution scenario. “We had a 100% loss ratio,” Young said. “When we pay out essentially more in claims than what's paid in, we see much larger increases.”
Under Young’s numbers, the more drastic scenario would raise employer annuitized costs by about $2,000,000 per year compared with current spending; by contrast, the 39% initial renewal scenario would have equated to a roughly $2.9 million increase. Young attributed the high claims to several very costly cases in the district’s recent experience; she said six claimants have totaled about $1,000,000 in claims in the first four months of the plan year.
Trustees asked for specific comparisons and enrollment breakout. Young said most employees currently choose lower-cost, higher-deductible HMO options and that changes to deductibles and max out-of-pocket limits produce the most premium savings. She also said Cigna and Aetna declined to quote because of claims utilization and network limits in the area; UnitedHealthcare had not delivered a final proposal but Young expected it by the end of the week.
Dr. Rios, the superintendent, urged the board not to rush a decision. He recommended setting aside money from the district’s excess fund balance as a contingency so trustees could take July and August to study options, solicit employee feedback and avoid an urgent, unilateral shift. “We have time, we can be calm, and really study so that we can do the best by our employees and do right by our taxpayers,” he said.
Young offered to host an informational town hall and to return with any additional carrier quotes and alternate plan designs. Trustees agreed to gather concrete plan-and-cost options and to survey employees with specific contribution/deductible permutations before deciding, noting they need decisions early enough to allow about 45 days of system updates before open enrollment.
Next steps: administration will collect outstanding carrier quotes, prepare concrete employee-survey options and report back to the board at a follow-up budget workshop or one-on-one meetings.
