BROOKSVILLE — Hernando County School District employees will pay more for health coverage after a divided School Board voted to have the district fund its own employee health plan instead of buying fully insured coverage.
The board voted 3-2 on Sept. 22 to become self-insured, with Florida Blue administering the plan and the Florida Educator Health Trust providing coordination and oversight. Board members Michelle Bonczek and Shannon Rodriguez voted no.
Employees will see premium increases of $18 to $66 per pay period, depending on the plan they choose. That is down from the $84 to $128 per pay period increases originally proposed, after the district’s insurance committee recommended changes to the plan design to soften the blow.
Under self-insurance, the district pays employees’ medical claims directly rather than paying premiums to an insurance company. According to agenda documents, Florida Blue will administer the plan and pharmacy benefits and provide stop-loss coverage, which protects the district against unusually large claims. The district has set aside $2 million as a contingency.
The vote came just hours after board members received the final recommendation at a workshop earlier that day, a timeline that drew objections.
Rodriguez moved to table the item until the board’s Oct. 6 meeting, arguing members should not vote on a report the same day they received it. The motion died for lack of a second.
District staff said waiting until Oct. 6 would push back open enrollment, leave employees only two weeks to make their choices, could cost the district money and would delay reporting to vendors.
Rodriguez also warned that once the board approved the switch, the district could not back out. Board members spent considerable time discussing what it would take to exit the arrangement and how that, too, could cost the district.
Bonczek said the board was being forced to choose between two difficult options: staying with the current fully insured plan or going self-funded, which would also bring higher costs, new risks and different effects on employees.
“Both options raise serious concerns,” she said. “I am being asked to weigh two very unacceptable alternatives that, in my view, both involve increased costs and could have a significant cost for our employees and the district.”
Her reservations about self-funding, she added, did not mean she supported staying with the current plan under present circumstances.
Board member Mark Johnson said no one was taking the decision lightly but urged approval, noting the board had been studying health insurance for some time. He saw no point in further delay, he said, and warned that staff will probably face a 15% rate increase next year regardless.
At one point, Johnson and Rodriguez exchanged sharp words when Rodriguez said he was interrupting her.
Chairwoman Kayce Hawkins, who voted with the majority, called the decision a gamble. She said she had expected more than two options, and neither made her feel “wonderful” about voting yes.
“It’s a really hard decision and I understand why Mrs. Rodriguez would want to table it,” Hawkins said. “I just don’t know that the decision that I am making is going to change either by tabling it.”
Hawkins agreed that items presented at a workshop should not come up for a vote the same day and said it should not happen again. But she said this case was different.
“In regard to this, we’ve been looking at it for a solid year and we did know ahead of time that it was going to be this way,” she said.
Plan details
The out-of-pocket maximum under the new plan will be about $6,000.
The full presentation is in the agenda packet for the board’s Sept. 22 regular meeting at hernandoschools.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Answers to frequently asked questions begin on page 143 of the packet.