Boone County officials recommend leaving IPBC and pursue partial self-funded health plan to cut costs

County administrators recommended that Boone County’s board approve a resolution next week to withdraw from the Intergovernmental Personnel Benefit Cooperative (IPBC) and pursue a partially self-funded health insurance plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield, officials said at the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 12.

Becky Tobin and Aaron (county staff) told the committee that IPBC delivered a preliminary renewal showing a 19.9% increase, roughly $821,000 above the current budget and pushing the county toward a $4.95 million annual cost under the IPBC renewal. Aaron presented modeling based on four years of claims data and several utilization scenarios and said a partial self-funded model would reduce the county’s expected cost to about $4.2 million under a 50% utilization assumption, a savings the staff estimated at approximately $745,000 for the coming plan year.

Under the staff proposal, Boone County would keep the existing Blue Cross Blue Shield network for employees but assume limited claim risk between a $650 current deductible and a $3,500 stop-loss threshold; claims above $3,500 would be covered by the carrier. Staff said they would use Envision as the third-party administrator to manage mid-level claims and that employees’ plan experience would be intended to be seamless.

Tobin and Aaron also told the committee that IPBC is requiring the county to replenish a reserve assessment of $286,889 related to the 2025 plan year, which increases the near-term cost of staying with the pool. The administration said the county must decide by March 31 whether to leave IPBC and planned to present a withdrawal resolution at the next county board meeting; the full insurance proposal from Blue Cross is expected in April for a July 1 start date.

Board members asked about administrative burdens and continuity for employees. Aaron said the county would engage a TPA and budget a roughly $20,000 third-party fee; the administration said the change would not change employees’ daily interactions with benefits but would give the county more design flexibility and potential long-term savings.

The committee did not take a final vote at the March 12 meeting but directed staff to bring a withdrawal resolution to the county board next week and the full insurance contract for final approval in April.