Health benefits are usually buttoned up by July, but when Denton ISD learned that the reinsurer for the Texas School Health Benefits had opted not to continue coverage for 50 Texas school districts in the program, the school board authorized Superintendent Jamie Wilson to find and secure new insurance.
The district accepted an offer from Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide three plans for district employees. Wilson said nearly 1,000 employees have finished their enrollment for benefits for the 2023-24 school year.
School board members discussed the benefits package in Zoom calls, and Wilson said trustees asked good questions and gave input so the administration could offer fully funded health care benefits to its eligible staff.
“We have a passive consent enrollment process,” Wilson said. “So that means they’re going to roll in the benefits that they’ve had — whatever was expected — and what we’re continuing to do is reach out, and our team is sending out text messages and emails and whatnot. There’s been a constant audience of people come through the benefits office asking questions, trying to figure out what’s best for them.”
Health benefits are a crucial part of staff compensation packages, and when the district learned that the reinsurer wouldn’t continue coverage, leaders decided to seek out an alternative. A reinsurer is a financial company that insures insurance third-party administrators as “a stop-gap,” Chris Bomberger, Denton ISD executive director of child nutrition, benefits and risk management, said last month. Texas School Health Benefits, a government risk pool, sought out options, but Denton ISD allowed Bomberger’s team and Wilson to seek benefits, too.
Wilson said the district discovered it could get a better rate by bundling medical insurance with dental plans, while also keeping another dental insurance plan.
“We have so many employees that have it,” Wilson said. “So we didn’t think they have enough runway with that employee group to make that change. So we’re really offering two dental plans this year. The folks on the previous dental plan can stay on that plan.”
Administrators pledged to provide benefits for the 5,000 employees eligible for health coverage through the district by Sept. 1, when their coverage begins. Within the district, employees who work 16 hours a week or more are eligible for healthcare coverage. Wilson said Bomberger and his team moved fast and worked hard to strike a deal on health care coverage.
Denton ISD offered benefits through Texas School Health Benefits from September 2020 through August 2022. Starting in September 2022, the district opted to leave TRS-ActiveCare, the health care benefits vended through the state’s teacher retirement system. Denton ISD wasn’t alone in leaving the state’s program, either, and the goal was to find more affordable coverage.
The sting of leaving TRS-ActiveCare? Once a district opts out, you can’t get back into the system for four years, even if the system has better rates than other options on the market. In a previous interview, Bomberger said that during the 2021-22 school year, 2,700 employees chose the district’s health care. During the 2022-23 school year, 2,750 district employees opted for coverage through their workplace. Employees may choose to be covered by other plans. Bomberger said it’s most likely that those who choose another plan are carried by another family member or a spouse.
District leaders know health benefits are both integral to recruiting and retaining teachers and other staff, and when the administration conducted a “listening tour” of its campuses last school year, benefits were a sticking point.
“We heard [that] access to health care, period, not just a result of the benefits, but finding primary care physicians and whatnot” was difficult for employees, said Susannah O’Bara, the district’s deputy superintendent. “We were really thrilled to be able to share an immediate solution as we heard that with our wellness clinic, which by the way is open and taking walk-in patients.”
Employees will be able to choose from among the three plans. They can choose a high-deductible plan, a “platinum” health maintenance organization plan and a “gold” HMO plan. Two of the district’s dental plans have been moved to Blue Cross Blue Shield.