Commissioners approve new Anthem plan design and $500 HSA seed for county employees

County staff presented competitive-bid results and proposed plan designs to blunt a previously projected insurance renewal spike.

Zach Richards, the county benefits presenter, told commissioners the expiring plan cost the county $1,141,217.65; an adjusted renewal would have raised that to $1,578,011.89. Switching to two alternative Anthem HealthSync plan offerings would result in a county cost of $1,223,003.95, an increase of about $81,786 over the expiring plan but far below the larger renewal scenario. Richards laid out employee impacts in per-paycheck amounts for different plan tiers.

Commissioners discussed employee affordability and proposed seeding health-savings accounts. The board approved moving forward with the Anthem HealthSync plan options and approved a one-time $500 county contribution to employee HSAs for the coming year, with the contribution to be reviewed annually. The board directed staff to prepare materials and open-enrollment notices for employees ahead of the September renewal date.

Direct quotes used at the meeting were attributed to Zach Richards during the presentation. Implementation steps — enrollment materials and department visits — were set to begin immediately.