Douglas County trustees keep self-funded health plan, pick Hometown Health as TPA for 2027

The Douglas County School District Board approved keeping the district's self-funded health insurance plan and named Hometown Health as the third-party administrator for the 2027 plan year following a market analysis by LP Insurance.

Nate Kerr of LP Insurance presented the results of an outreach to carriers and third-party administrators, saying only two fully insured carriers provided competitive quotes while several declined to bid. He told trustees that the district's rolling 12-month cost and revenue lines had come closer to breakeven and that the market scan "validates where we're at" with the current self-funded design. Kerr highlighted that the district's composite per-employee cost runs roughly $980 per month and that administrative fixed costs are a small portion of total spend.

Trustees pressed for more detail on retiree participation and the split of costs between retirees and active employees. Kerr agreed to provide a breakout of retiree versus employee payments and confirmed the district's year-to-date average employee count of about 714 with roughly 317 dependents on the plan.

Trustee Brady moved to approve the self-insured model and authorize Hometown Health as the district's TPA for the 2027 plan year; Trustee Zinky seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

Why it matters: The board chose to keep the district's current approach rather than move to a fully insured model after finding no sufficiently competitive fully insured alternative. The decision preserves the district's current networks and aims to avoid disruptions for employees while continuing the district's approach to funding claim risk.

What comes next: LP Insurance will provide the requested breakdowns on retiree costs and additional plan-design options for the board and the health advisory committee to consider as the district finalizes its 2027 budget and benefit structure.