Two Rivers board votes to shift district health plan to self-funded model, funds one-time HSA seed

The Two Rivers Public School District board voted on May 16 to transition its employee health coverage from a fully insured plan to a self-funded model and to direct a one-time district contribution into employees’ Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

The board’s action follows presentations by USI benefit consultants Ran Bodri and Pete Dur, who told trustees the district had faced repeated, unsustainable rate increases under fully insured plans and had “to do something different” to manage long-term costs and claims cycles. Ran Bodri said the consultants reviewed high-cost claims, prescription strategies and plan design changes to arrive at the recommendation.

Under the approved plan the district will convert monies that had been set aside in Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) and deposit a one-time contribution of $1,500 for each family plan and $700 for each single plan into employee HSAs. Administrators said those HRA dollars were already budgeted for next year and that the deposit is a one-time seed to help employees transition to a high-deductible HSA-eligible plan; future district contributions were not guaranteed.

Pete Dur described the driver for the change as market pressure in the fully insured market and said the consulting team expected the self-funded approach—and a pharmacy program and network changes included in the design—to produce substantially lower future premium growth and help the district establish reserves.

Board members asked about administration and portability of the accounts. The consultants said Associated Bank would administer the initial deposits and that employees may move HSA funds later to other institutions if they prefer. Officials also reiterated that a third-party administrator would handle claims processing in the self-funded arrangement.

The motion to transition the district to a self-funded plan and to move from an HRA to HSA structure passed on a roll-call vote (Mr Peterson: yes; Mrs Bentin: yes; Mr Clinker: yes; Mrs Hendrickson: yes; Mr Shavick: yes; Mr Williams: yes; Mrs Brandt: yes). The board directed staff to proceed with implementation steps and continued engagement with USI for employee education and plan administration.

The district will consider monitoring experience, reserves and plan performance and retains the option to reassess the model in future years.