The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners renewed their employee health plan with no changes as part of their Jan. 21 consent agenda, opting not to adopt the five-tiered prescription drug plan discussed last month.
The board learned at their Jan. 14 executive session that once the county changes to a tiered prescription drug plan, they may be unable to return to the stop-loss pool they currently belong to. Several commissioners said they did not know enough about how the new drug plan would affect their employees to make that commitment.
There was also some pushback from county employees. The board was considering the change based on a mid-December presentation by Lew Wolters, a C&M Insurance agent, who predicted the self-insurance pool’s costs would increase 37% this year.
At the same January executive session, Chief Assistant Prosecutor Tristan Chamberlain publicly commented that Wolter’s data appeared to be inaccurate or incomplete on several points compared to records from the county clerk’s office and the finance department.
Wolters had reported that $1.4 million out of the county’s $1.9 million in large claim payments in 2024 were from prescription costs. The most expensive drug on his list was an uncommon metabolic modifier, at $161,063. Chamberlain said that this figure appears to be ten times greater than the actual amount – unless 10 employees all have the same rare genetic disorder.
“Last year was anomaly,” Chamberlain said. “Yes, we were down. We were down quite a bit. That ate into that pool. But for the numbers that I have – and I don’t have all for 2024 – we are still up a million dollars in that pool.”
Finance Director Cathy Hartesvelt, who assisted Chamberlain with his research, agreed that the current health insurance plan is effective. She said that it would be fair for Leelanau County to “do a deeper dive” before leaving the stop-loss pool and adopting a new tiered drug plan.
Hartesvelt said the county currently has a premium plan, using the word “premium” as an adjective. County employees’ drug costs are fully covered by the selffunded health insurance plan after reaching a deductible. The county’s robust health plan is thought to attract and retain employees.
Chamberlain also suggested that the county reconsider its relationship with Wolters and C&M Insurance, noting that they pay $50,000 annually to the insurance company for this work, which he suggested may be excessive.
Wolters, who was also present at this meeting, defended his company’s work, saying that C&M Insurance saves Leelanau County a lot of money. He said the board previously considered awarding 10% of their savings to the insurance company, but found the $4,000 monthly rate was cheaper.
“My office is quite involved with your employees, their claims, and their questions. We might get one call a month. We might get 20 calls. We make sure you don’t have to deal with a 1-800 number to get your problems solved. That is something a lot of agents don’t do,” said Wolters.
In any case, all parties agreed that county employees would benefit from additional education sessions on the stop-loss pool due to their rising prescription drug costs. Interim Administrator Richard Lewis recommended following up with additional data at the county board’s first meeting in April.
