GLP-1s Being Cut From Lyons Township High Insurance

LA GRANGE, IL – Health insurance costs continue to skyrocket for Lyons Township High School.

One of the causes is believed to be GLP-1 drugs.

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As of Jan. 1, the school's insurance will no longer cover GLP-1s for weight loss only, officials said. Medical purposes will still be covered.

That's the result of a decision of the school's insurance committee, made up of administrators and union representatives.

Brian Stachacz, the school's top finance official, described the committee's thinking.

"We're covering something that it's not really designed for and not medically approved," he said at Monday's school board meeting. "Do we want to keep doing that? The committee said no."

For the last budget year, which ended June 30, health insurance costs amounted to $11.2 million, up from $10 million the previous year, according to the school.

The school is adding another $750,000 for the health insurance line item this budget year, Stachacz said.

The reasons for the spikes are continuing inflation and increased claims, he said.

"We're not alone in that," Stachacz said. "That's something school districts are seeing everywhere."

Another budget challenge is Cook County's late distributions of property tax money.

For a decade, the county has been undergoing a software project that is blamed for delays. County officials and Texas-based Tyler Technologies are pointing fingers at each other.

Last year, Stachez said, the school went from April to just before Christmas without any property tax distributions.

"Many taxing bodies were sweating that out," he said.

He estimated that Cook County is still behind in paying the high school $3 million to $4 million in property taxes, the exact amount depending on how much taxpayers have paid.

Asked board member Shawn Kennedy, "They're not keeping track of this?"

Stachacz said he didn't know, but that he tended to believe that the county was.

This year's total high school budget amounts to $106 million.