Commissioners accept TAC health-plan renewal; committee raises deductible to limit premium rise

The Wilson County Commissioners Court accepted the insurance committee's recommended renewal of the county's TAC health benefits pool on June 8.

Human resources specialist Jaylen T. Bodafford told commissioners the county's loss ratio had hit 134 percent, driving a proposed pool need and a county-specific increase cited in the meeting. The insurance committee recommended Option 1: raise the employee deductible from $2,000 to $2,500 and slightly increase the co-insurance maximum to reduce the county's increase from 16% to about 12%. Bodafford presented the county-level per-employee monthly increase as $99.12 and cited an aggregate fiscal impact read from the packet (the transcript number was garbled in one line; county staff will provide the final budget impact figures).

The committee also recommended leaving retiree cost-sharing unchanged; retirees would continue to pay 25% of their premium. Commissioners discussed wellness initiatives, education, and the limits of pursuing new bids while the county is showing a high loss ratio.

Commissioner Aken moved to accept the proposal as presented; the motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The court also asked staff to pursue wellness and utilization strategies and to report back with options to reduce future loss ratios.