School Board agrees to health plan enhancements

Co-pays for office visits, urgent care and generic drug prescriptions will decrease.


Brown & Brown Senior Vice President Danielle Boyle, right, and Flagler Schools Chief Human Resources Officer Jewel Johnson present the district's insurance renewal recommendations.
Brown & Brown Senior Vice President Danielle Boyle, right, and Flagler Schools Chief Human Resources Officer Jewel Johnson present the district's insurance renewal recommendations.
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The Flagler County School Board agreed to lower co-payments on its employee health insurance plans for the 2022 to 2023 school year.

At a May 25 special meeting, the board also agreed to decrease deductibles for its HSA plan.

The changes will not affect board or employee premiums, which will remain the same as they were this school year, according to a report from Brown & Brown, which administers the district's self-funded plans.

The cost of the plan enhancements will be approximately $164,000, which will come out of the insurance reserve, a fund that was at $4.6 million from the last plan year.

The co-pays will decrease from $50 to $20 for primary care visits and $75 to $40 for specialist visits for both the standard and premium HMO plans. Urgent care co-pays will decrease from $100 to $50 for the standard plan. Generic drug co-pays will be $5.

"The items that we adjusted are not really expensive, but I think they give back to employees on the services they use most."

DANIELLE BOYLE, Brown & Brown senior vice president

"The items that we adjusted are not really expensive, but I think they give back to employees on the services they use most," Danielle Boyle, Brown & Brown's senior vice president, told the board.

The insurance committee recommended the adjustments to make the HMO plans more affordable. Based on board member feedback during Brown & Brown's presentation at a May 17 workshop, the insurance committee also voted to decrease HSA deductibles from $2,500 to $2,000 for an individual and from $5,000 to $4,000 for a family.

The board unanimously agreed to all of the recommendations.

The insurance committee's recommendation to a one-time refund for all members of the health plan was not presented at the meeting. But, Katie Hansen, the president of the Flagler County Educators Association, said negotiations are continuing.  

"(The May 25) meeting/vote was specific to solidifying the insurance plan options for the coming year," Hansen said. "We really won't know for sure on the other items until we return to the table for negotiations. Tentatively, we are back (June 1)."

 

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