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Cameron County officials say they will drop insurer Divot and join another consortium to cut health-plan costs
Summary
County leaders reported they will drop insurer "Divot" and enroll in a different consortium, saying coverage for staff will remain the same and estimating a budgetary improvement equal to roughly 7–9% of last year’s health-insurance costs (county expense cited as $420,000).
County officials told the Cameron County commissioners meeting that the county will drop its current health-insurance provider, referred to in the record as “Divot,” and enroll in another consortium they expect will lower the county’s costs while preserving current coverage for employees.
At the start of the meeting an administrative official said, “we decided to drop Divot and we will be enrolling with another consortium,” and that staff and county rates “will stay the same” for the coming open-enrollment period. The official said no increase is expected for this year’s open enrollment.
Commissioner B later provided more detailed budget context, saying earlier estimates of a 1% savings did not account for an expected 6–8% rate increase next year. “So the actual savings is anywhere from 7 to 9% from what our costs on health insurance were last year,” the commissioner said, and added the county’s health-insurance expense is about $420,000. The commissioner framed the change as a way to preserve employee coverage while reducing the county’s fiscal exposure.
Officials said the move follows similar decisions in neighboring counties and is intended to balance employee benefits and fiscal responsibility during budget preparation. No contract or vendor name for the new consortium was recorded in the transcript and commissioners indicated that open enrollment and the formal transition are ongoing processes.
Next steps: county staff will complete the enrollment transition and proceed with open enrollment; the change will be reflected in upcoming budget discussions. The transcript did not include a recorded vote on the insurance change or the final contract terms.
