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Health insurance costs per employee rise sharply, clerk tells Bannock County board
Summary
Clerk presented a chart showing that the county's health-insurance costs per employee have grown substantially over the years cited in the meeting and urged commissioners to preserve benefit levels while exploring contribution or plan changes.
The clerk told the Board that one of the largest drivers of the proposed FY27 increase is the county's health insurance cost for employees and urged commissioners to recognize the benefit value while confronting the budget impact.
"Our benefits are a great benefit to our employees, and we really need to highlight that," the clerk said while walking the board through a chart of per-employee costs and total insurance spending. The clerk read figures presented in the chart, noting a per-employee county cost figure of $16,315.79 for an earlier year and later figures that produced a total county health-insurance budget the clerk described as about $12.3 million with 406 employees.
Commissioners pressed staff for a clearer timeline and asked for a simple comparison showing the dollar effect to an individual employee of a 1 percent COLA versus the increase in insurance costs. Finance staff agreed to add that calculation to the chart and circulate it to department heads.
Staff also warned that the county's retirement and COBRA contribution settings and stop-loss levels remain under review and could change. The clerk said some items—such as stop-loss—are uncertain until actuary information is available later in July or early August.
