Committee authorizes administrator to pursue fully insured alternatives to ETF; staff to return with plan structures

County-contracted benefits consultants presented findings and a range of quotes for alternative health-insurance arrangements, arguing the Employee Trust Fund (ETF) limits the county to one plan design and does not provide the county-level claims data needed for proactive cost containment. The consultants quoted a range of total plan costs: ETF at roughly $4.6 million total cost (county plus employees) versus fully insured options that the consultants estimated could bring total cost near $3.7–$4.1 million depending on uptake of a two-plan design (co-pay-first and an HSA-eligible plan).

The consultants described carrier offers from Quartz (presented as the best fit on network and price), Dean and UnitedHealthcare, noting tradeoffs in network breadth and rate guarantees. They proposed offering employees a choice of a co-pay-first plan and an HSA-eligible higher-deductible plan so employees can select based on needs. After discussion, the committee voted (motion by Frank; second by Thompson) to authorize the administrator to pursue options 1 and 3 and return with plan-structure recommendations at the next meeting. "If we do nothing, that's what that's gonna be," the consultant said when describing the ETF baseline cost trajectory; proponents said access to claims data and a two-plan offering could produce meaningful county and employee savings while preserving network access.