County hears insurance options

In early August, just mere weeks ahead of budget hearings, the Owen County Board of Commissioners was thrown a major curveball regarding the county's group health insurance rates.

Ron Remak, President and Owner of Bill C. Brown Associates, informed the commissioners that the two-year rate-locked plan they agreed to with IU Health Plans would not be honored as IU Health Plans sold to Anthem.

Remak said in the August meetings that Anthem was aware of the contract IU Health Plans had with Owen County and that part of the agreement was that the plan rates would be honored.

Remak later came back and said that Anthem agreed to honor the rate, kind of. For budgetary purposes, they would honor the rate for 2026, but if Owen County had a "bad claim year," which was not specifically defined, the county would owe an additional 10 percent in 2027 plus whatever rate increase would take place for that year.

He presented on the matter again at the Sept. 18 commissioners meeting.

"I just wanted to give you an update on the Anthem situation and their lack of commitment to what IU Health Plans had promised. As I mentioned to you, I made a formal complaint to the Indiana Department of Insurance. First time I've done that in 46 years," Remak said.

He noted that Anthem had received the complaint and had until Sept. 25 to respond.

In the meantime, Remak has worked to see what other plans are out there for the county and wanted to present a competitive offer that the county had received from United Healthcare (UHC).

The information about the plan was presented by Scott Thompson, vice president of sales for UHC in Indiana and Kentucky.

"We are a part of United Health Group; that is our parent company. We are fortunate for, but we always say that very modestly, though, because big doesn't always mean good, but in the insurance and health care delivery space, it allows us to truly deploy different solutions to meet the needs of our employer and member partners across the country," Thompson said. "The thing that I think will stand out the most is the network that we're able to provide to your employees and their family members as they are accessing care across the state of Indiana and also all 50 states across the country."

He continued.

"From a network perspective, which we'll get into a little more detail, all the hospitals in the state of Indiana are currently in network with us," Thompson added.

Remak also provided some more context regarding the cost of the insurance.

"If you remember, Anthem came in with again not honoring the commitment that IU Health Plan had made, but they did come in and say, 'Look, where we think you should be is 10 percent higher than what you are currently with IU Health Plans.' Again, this would be for 2026. What they said though, they would bill you the exact same amount of premiums that you are being billed for for IU Health Plans with the idea though at the end of 2026 or early 2027, they would look at claims and if you haven't had a good claims year, then they can ask for that additional 10 percent that they're charging," Remak said. "So, although we appreciate the fact that they're willing to help you from a budget standpoint, the reality is you still have that exposure if you don't have as good a claims year as you've had the last few years. And again, trends are excellent. You guys have been healthier for quite a while. But as you know, as well as I do, some things you can't predict."

Remak said the cost and coverage is almost identical, but it provides employees with a larger network of providers.

"And then you can see premiums, they're really just coming in, matching the premiums, which will guarantee you no stipulation that the premiums for 2026 are going to be what you had budgeted for, exactly the same as you currently have," Remak added.

Commissioners Sam Hobbs and Norm Warner were present at the meeting, and they asked about a multiyear contract, citing concerns that the rates would be low for 2026 but steeply increase the year after.

Thompson said that is something that has to be reviewed with the company's underwriters.

Instead, he offered why he does not believe steep increases are part of UHC's plans for doing business with the county.

"Doing business here in the state of Indiana, we've been able to grow our business year over year, and we don't do that by buying business on the front end and then increasing the rates in year two," Thompson said. "From our perspective, there's a lot of time and investment we make in the front end to bring on a new customer, educate members, make sure that everything's set up correctly. So we both try to take a long-term approach that we're underwriting on the new business side so that we can maintain long-term relationships."

Remak added that throughout his time in business, IU Health Plans was the first to come up with a two-year rate guarantee, which was dependent on participation in healthy results, preventative health screening and other preventative measures.

"I'm not surprised by their answer," Remak concluded.

Warner asked about the clinic at Owen Valley Middle School that employees can currently use. That clinic is a separate contract not related to health insurance, though it does help cut down on the number of claims, which helps with the rates for the county's group health insurance.

Thompson said that UHC asks for 60 days for implementation.

No decision was made at the Sept. 18 meeting, and the commissioners said they planned to consider it at the Oct. 2 meeting so it could be properly budgeted for during the Oct. 14 council meeting.

"I don't want to wait up until November to make this decision to change over," Hobbs said. "I don't want any employee being left in the dark."