County finance presentation shows projected savings under self‑funding despite recent claim spike

Jackie Bennett, the county finance presenter, summarized actuarial illustrations showing the county could save money by switching to a self‑funded health plan. Bennett told commissioners: "Potentially, if our claims stay the same, we could save up to $500,000." She added that multi‑year projections produced larger cumulative savings under the broker's assumptions.

Commissioners pressed staff about a recent year‑over‑year increase of roughly $1.1 million in actual claims. Presenters said the jump was largely driven by a small number of high‑claim lives (about eight over recent years) and that many of those high claims were dependents rather than county employees. Staff said actuaries used the county's most current claims experience (through April) to generate the 2026–27 projections and that even with a 10% claims increase the illustrations still showed net savings compared with fully insured premiums.

Presenters cautioned the board that self‑funding produces more month‑to‑month cost fluctuation compared with fully insured premiums, and described stop‑loss and aggregate protections intended to limit the county's exposure to very large individual claims.