By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Health insurance rates – for the Whitewater Unified School District itself and employee benefactors – are set to decrease for the upcoming fiscal year, based on a plan in motion.
The WUSD School Board on April 26 voted in favor of a pair of agreements with Dean and Mercy. Both entities pitched lower rates, year-over-year, though the structures of their plans vary.
Dean and Mercy each are offering a 2-percent rate decrease in the year ahead.
Longer range, Dean’s proposal to the district includes a 3.5-percent rate increase in the 2022-23 school year, and a 5-percent rate cap in the 2023-24 school year. Mercy could not guarantee rate caps beyond the upcoming school year.
“We’re pleased again this year,” Business Manager Matthew Sylvester-Knudtson said. “After negotiating with Dean and Mercy, we find these offers acceptable.”
WUSD pays 87.5-percent of employee’s health insurance premiums. Based on data Sylvester-Knudtson shared with the board, employees receiving individual health insurance benefits might have less deducted from paychecks in the upcoming school year as a result of the changes.
School Board President Casey Judd said he was pleased with the final figures.
“The health insurance renewal looks really good,” Judd said.
In other recent business, the WUSD School Board:
- Approved a status quo approach to the district’s dental insurance plan for the upcoming school year.
“WUSD switched to a self-funded dental insurance model for the 2018-19 fiscal year,” Sylvester-Knudtson said. “The self-funded program continues to run well. We had the equivalent of a dental program surplus for 2019-20 of approximately $148,000.”
A committed fund balance of $40,000 in reserve cash has also been built into the budget for any unexpected dental claims that might arise.
- Tabled a discussion of a potential memorandum of understanding with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department for crossing guard services, on an as-needed basis. Sylvester-Knudtson said the MOU is still being hammered out.
