Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. employees will see a 15% increase in their health care premiums beginning Sept. 27.
The corporation’s health trust board of directors announced the increase in a letter to all group health plan participants on Aug. 23. BCSC is a self-insured school corporation, meaning its health trust is responsible for maintaining funds and setting premiums that will allow them to maintain reserves to pay claims.
Members of the board include two teachers from the Columbus Educators Association, one support staff representative, one school board member and a board chair, currently John Green, Columbus North High School assistant principal.
In the letter, the board explained that the trust’s reserves are down to less than $300,000 as of Aug. 23, resulting from historically high medical claims, which are up more than 23% in 2019 alone, and increases in the usage and price of specialty and brand prescriptions. The board also said plan design changes did not improve claims or generate savings at the levels that were predicted.
“While it is impossible to predict claims costs, the trend certainly indicates that we will continue to experience high costs,” the letter read. “While this change is not easy to announce or for members to accept, it is a necessary step to safeguard the future of the trust.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
