By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Delavan-Darien School Board recently approved a change to the health plan it offers to employees. The plan moves the district away from WEA Trust Insurance and offers employees three choices for their health care.
Business Administrator Anthony Klein said at the Oct. 11 meeting, the contract with WEA was due for renewal and WEA wanted a 4.9 percent premium increase for 2022 that would have been passed on to employees. WEA had already received a 7.9 percent premium increase last year.
Administrator Jill Sorbie said that the continuing rise in premium rates was unsustainable. Klein said the district looked for an alternative and found one with the new proposal.
The new plan will give employees the opportunity to choose between coverage by either Mercy or Dean health providers. Sorbie said that will create competition for the business of district employees by those providers and should help keep costs down.
The plan was developed with the help of USI Insurance Services and is similar to ones used in Whitewater and Clinton school districts. Klein said since implementing their plans, the premiums have remained relatively flat in Whitewater and Clinton and neither community has had to switch insurance companies.
“It is our hope that this plan will not only control health care costs but also provide long-term stability for our staff versus switching providers every two to three years to control costs,” Klein said.
Klein did admit there would be some service disruptions for employees who want to continue to receive care from providers or doctors who are not in the Mercy or Dean systems but he said that could change anyway under the previous way of switching providers every two to three years.
A third option was provided for employees living outside the main service areas of Mercy or Dean. Those employees can select a Dean PPO option. With that option, the district will contribute to a health savings account for those employees to ensure they have a similar deductible as the other two options.
To read more coverage from the board meeting, pick up a copy of the Oct. 21 Delavan Enterprise.
