Elmhurst D205 May Let Go Insurance Consultant

ELMHURST, IL – A 37 percent increase in health insurance costs last year prompted Elmhurst School District 205 to look at getting a new insurance consultant, according to a district memo.

Three consulting firms were recommended to the district – Alliant Insurance Services, Gallagher and the current one, AssuredPartners.

After interviews with the three firms, a district committee selected Alliant and Gallagher as the finalists.

After further presentations, the committee went with California-based Alliant.

According to the memo, Alliant brought ideas and solutions that would significantly reduce the district's health care costs without sacrificing benefit levels.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, members are expected to vote on a contract with Alliant that would cost $84,000 annually for three years.

During a presentation to the board in October, AssuredPartners attributed the 37 percent hike in health and dental insurance for employees to inflation and a surge in large claims.

The consultant helps the district strike an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield, which the AssuredPartners representative, John McConnell, called the "800-pound gorilla" in the marketplace.

Because of the big claims, he told the board, other insurers were not jumping for Elmhurst's business.

"Frankly, we have a higher percentage of very sick people, a higher percentage of cancer and a couple of birth complications and other things," McConnell told the board.

The latest increase is far higher than the ones from the last two years – 3 percent and 7 percent. The hike for next year is nearly double that of the market average of 19 percent, McConnell said.

He warned the district could see an increase of up to 9 percent in 2025.

In the last year, McConnell said, 41 members of the district's insurance plan accounted for $4.5 million of the $18 million in claims. That is twice the rate of AssuredPartners' other clients, he said.

Late last year, the board used the 37 percent insurance increase as one of the justifications to increase property taxes to the maximum allowed under state law.