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Henderson County approves 2026–27 health insurance renewal after debate over HSA and HMO changes
Summary
The commissioners approved the county’s 2026–27 employee health insurance renewal after hearing that TAC issued a 9.9% overall medical renewal; staff recommended plan design tweaks (raising deductibles and copays) intended to reduce premium increases for employees.
Henderson County’s commissioners voted unanimously to approve the 2026–27 employee health insurance renewal after a detailed presentation and extended discussion over how to limit employees’ premium increases.
Rameshia Bridal, who led the benefits presentation with the county’s HR team and insurance committee, told the court that TAC issued a 9.9% renewal for the county’s medical coverage if plans remain unchanged. Bridal outlined two recommended plan design changes aimed at lowering that increase: raising the high‑deductible HSA plan’s in‑network deductible from $5,000 to $7,500 to reduce that plan’s share of the renewal, and adjusting the Blue Essentials HMO deductible from $1,500 to $2,500 while increasing primary‑care and emergency‑room copays (primary care to $35, ER copay from $600 to $1,000). Those HMO changes would cut that plan’s increase from 9.9% to about 0.2%, Bridal said.
“It does reduce the renewal rates by almost 4%,” Bridal said of the recommended HSA change, adding that the deductible increase would lower the premium change to roughly 5% for that plan option and that the HSA remains the plan that has run better on claims historically.
Commissioners pressed staff for detail on employee impacts. One insurance committee member quantified the effect in employee paychecks, saying the biweekly increase under the recommended HSA change would be about $24.97 and that the HMO option would result in roughly a $2.98 monthly increase in one calculation. Commissioners also discussed employee participation in the HSA (committee figures indicated few employees currently contribute into their HSA accounts) and the risk that raising the HSA deductible could push some staff off that plan.
The court discussed an alternative of moving to a single plan but heard staff’s finding that the only single‑plan savings would come from moving everyone to the HMO and that did not appear to be a preferred option because it would reduce network access and require referrals for specialists. Bridal said prescription drug cost sharing would remain unchanged under the recommended options.
After the discussion, Commissioner Toole moved to approve the renewal proposal as presented; the motion passed unanimously.
