By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
You have to have competition to negotiate. During Monday’s Great Bend City Council meeting, Mike Minton with Gallagher explained that is lacking right now in the insurance world. The result: an eight percent premium increase for both the city and employees on its health plan.
“In the years I’ve been doing this, 2027 appears to be one of the toughest years when it comes to renewals across the board,” Minton said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Blue Cross, United Health Care, Aetna, or whoever, it’s shaping up that medical and pharmacy trends are some of the highest we’ve seen out there.”
Minton explained the aspects of a self-funded insurance plan like the city utilizes. There are fixed costs – the city covers the first $75,000 on any individual on the plan. In doing so, the city pays Blue Cross an administration fee, which remained flat for 2027. There is also a stop-loss premium to cover expenses over $75,000. Minton said the city has had a considerable number of claims exceeding that amount in recent years, which has led to the increase.
“Those rates, which run usually about 20-25 percent of your overall cost, are actually going up about 30 percent this year, so the cost of covering people is what’s going up. Your actual claims cost with Blue Cross, your maximum ceiling the city could hit, is actually coming down a couple of points.”
Combined, the increase amounts to approximately eight percent. The city did have the option of shopping stop-loss premiums, and Minton’s group approached some 15 carriers, most of which were not interested in providing coverage. With no rates better than what Blue Cross was offering, the group was unable to negotiate a better deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The city had already budgeted for an eight percent increase in rates. Minton explained the city currently has approximately $1.4 million in reserves, which allowed the city to budget under the actual cost of the increase.