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Broker says Anthem renewal landed at 17.2% increase; Board told deductible changes could shave 3–4%
Summary
McGriff brokers told the Board that Anthem's final renewal for county coverage came in at 17.2% with no benefit changes; raising plan deductibles could reduce that impact by about 3–4%, and combining County and Schools claims did not yield a premium advantage, the brokers said.
Scot Chancy, a broker with McGriff, told the Shenandoah County Board on March 10 that Anthem’s final renewal for the county’s health plan came in at 17.2% with no changes to benefits.
“After further discussions they landed at a 17.2% increase without any changes to the benefits,” Chancy said, explaining that claims have been unusually high this past year and that renewals for many local clients show similar pressure. Chancy said Anthem’s early projections had been higher — in the mid- to high-20% range — and that an RFP process ultimately produced the lower figure.
Chancy reviewed the county’s three plan tiers and the trade-offs the Board could consider: a $250 deductible plan, a $500 deductible plan, and a high-deductible health-savings-plan option. He said raising deductibles across plans would reduce renewal pressure by roughly 3–4% and that wellness programs and incentives were another way to reduce claims usage, which he said was about 95% in the 12-month window they reviewed.
Chancy also addressed whether combining the County’s and Schools’ claims would lower costs. According to his presentation, pulling the claims together for administrative or pooling purposes did not produce a clear cost advantage for either the County or the Schools. He said that, over time, moving to a self-insured model could be considered but would require additional analysis and capacity-building.
