B-T board hears of insurance increase

While the exact amount wasn’t determined, Blair-Taylor Superintendent Jeff Eide told the district school board that insurance costs are increasing.

The Northwest Area Health Insurance Cooperative — a group of more than 20 school districts, including B-T, that combined for health insurance savings — approved a plan from Security Health Plan that will have an eight percent increase in premiums. For B-T, that could mean an increase of roughly $122,500. That amount could increase or decrease based on the number of employees enrolled in the plans and whether or not they have individual or family plans.

The cost could go down should the district choose to raise deductibles from the $3,000 to $6,000 range to the $4,000 to $8,000 range. That could lower the district’s cost to roughly $24,000. 

The eight percent increase came after Security Health Plan initially quoted a 17 percent increase to the school insurance co-op. Two other insurance companies also quoted 17 percent increases as the amount of premiums claimed exceeded $22,000 the last two years. 

Eide said that Security Health Plan went down to eight percent because the rise in costs over the last two years was not consistent with what the districts had in the past. Two years ago, Eide said B-T’s stop/loss ratio was 84 percent and last year it was 104 percent. 

District employees pay 12.6 percent of the costs and would also see an increase.

“If there’s an increase in the premium, they’re going to have an increase also,” Eide said.

The superintendent added that the district might not want to increase the deductible because going to $4,000 to $8,000 would be among the higher deductible rages.

Eide told the board that Security Health Plan had locked in prices so that increases would not exceed nine percent in the next two years.