Floyd County approves modest employee contribution rise, two new no-cost benefits for 2026

The Floyd County Board of Commissioners voted Oct. 7 to accept AssuredPartners’ recommended benefits renewal for the 2026 plan year, approving small increases to employee contributions while keeping the benefit design unchanged. "There will be a slight increase to employee contributions in 2026, $5.00 per pay period for the wellness plan and $10.00 for those in the non-wellness," AssuredPartners representative Wayne Willis told the board.

Willis said the county’s medical and pharmacy claims are running under budget year to date and highlighted a sharp fall in prescription expenses: "They were able to reduce the overall prescription costs by nearly 40%." The proposal keeps life and accidental-death benefit rates under a two-year rate guarantee and moves dental and vision coverage to Humana; Willis said the dental plan would see a 14% increase while the vision plan would drop about 11.8%.

The package includes two new benefits at no cost to the county: an Emergency Transportation benefit (quoted by Willis at $14.00 per employee per month) and a new employee assistance program offering four face-to-face counseling sessions for employees and dependents, with no charge to employees or the county. Commissioner Jason Sharp moved to accept the renewal; Commissioner Frank Loop seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

The board’s action preserves the county’s current benefit structure while shifting a small portion of costs to employees through higher contributions. The county did not adopt any further changes to benefit design during the meeting.