Staff recommends switching plan to cut renewal to 3.9%; estimated annual savings roughly $35,000–$40,000

Village finance/staff presented the annual health‑insurance renewal and recommended choosing an EGMC core PPO option that reduced the carrier’s initial 9.9% renewal to a negotiated 3.9% increase while keeping the same coverage. Staff said two alternative plan options with slightly higher deductibles or copays would increase employee out‑of‑pocket costs but yield further premium savings; staff calculated one alternate would save about $21,705 and the deeper alternate about $33,660 compared with the higher renewal column.

Staff also recommended switching dental and vision coverage to Kansas City Life, which he said would be about a 16.3% decrease compared with the proposed 19% increase from the village’s current carrier. Combining health and dental/vision changes produced a staff estimate of roughly $47,000 in annual savings before accounting for somewhat higher employee deductibles; staff estimated net realizable savings after reimbursements of roughly $35,000–$40,000.

Trustees asked how the proposed changes interact with union contracts. Staff said the union contract allows modest changes to plan design (for example, an increase in a co‑pay from $20 to $30) but does not permit shifting full deductible responsibility to employees. The recommended EGMC core PPO would raise co‑pays by $10 for employees but leave coverage otherwise intact; the village reimburses employee deductibles and would account for any modest changes in its budgeting.

Trustees asked for one additional committee review to allow Trustee Vaughn time to research the changes. Staff said the new coverage would start May 1 under the village’s fiscal year schedule and that HomeStar had negotiated the rate relief with carriers.

Next steps: trustees asked staff to put the recommendation on the next committee agenda for Trustee Vaughn to review and to bring final plan documents for formal approval before the May 1 effective date.