Price County Approves 2027 Health Premiums: $210 a Paycheck

Last updated: October 2026

Price County pays about $900,000 a year for insurance on its own insurance. Nobody in the room expects to use it. That number, not the premium table, is the real story of the 2027 benefits decision the Administration Committee approved on October 15.

Quick Answer: Price County’s Administration Committee approved 2027 employee health premiums on October 15, 2026, setting a family premium of about $175 a month on the base HSA Choice plan and about $420 a month for the Premium Plus buy-down, roughly $210 a paycheck. Deductibles run $7,000 for families on the base plan and $3,500 on Premium Plus. The county also spends around $900,000 a year on stop-loss coverage that caps any single employee’s claim at $120,000, and committee members voted to send handbook changes covering income continuation insurance to the full board in November.

What did the committee approve for 2027 health premiums?

The committee voted by voice to accept the 2027 premium and deductible schedule, with Preston Sheuermann moving and Paula Houdek seconding. Joe Baratka was excused. Houdek, Sheuermann, Jeff Ulrich and Chair Dennis Wartgow were present.

The agenda packet for the October 15 meeting lists health insurance premiums as item four and the broader employee benefits package as item five. The county administrator, Nicholas Trimner, walked the committee through both from the board room at 126 Cherry St. in Phillips.

Two plans, two very different bets

The HSA Choice plan is the county’s base product, and it asks employees to carry more risk in exchange for a small paycheck deduction. A family pays about $175 a month. The deductible is $7,000, and the out-of-pocket maximum is $10,000.

Premium Plus buys that risk down. A family pays about $420 a month, or roughly $210 a paycheck, with a $3,500 deductible and a $4,000 out-of-pocket cap. The administrator described it as still a strong plan for the money, and said the county is moving the buy-down price toward what the broker says the coverage actually costs.

What the buy-down really buys

On HSA Choice, after a family meets the $7,000 deductible, they still pay 20% of bills until they hit $10,000. On Premium Plus, coinsurance stops at the deductible. The gap matters most in a bad year. The administrator’s example: a family would need something close to $40,000 in medical bills on the base plan before the extra premium on Premium Plus stopped being the better deal.

Emergency room visits are priced to steer people away from them. On Premium Plus, an ER trip runs a flat $250. On the base plan, it is 20% of the bill once the deductible is met. That is a deliberate stick, and the administrator said so plainly.

The carrot is a walk-in clinic in Taylor County

The county pays 100% for visits to Taylored Health, which it treats as its walk-in option, so a sore throat that would cost $2,000 at the ER costs about $150 there. A second incentive pays $125 into an employee’s HSA, up to two people, for getting an annual physical at the Taylor County Clinic instead of a regular provider. The committee kept that for a second year.

How much does the county put into HSAs?

Employees who pick the higher-deductible base plan get $600 a year for single coverage and $1,800 for family coverage, paid across 24 paychecks. Premium Plus enrollees get no HSA contribution.

The base plan’s family premium rose about $12.50 a paycheck for 2027. Premium Plus carried the bigger increase because the county is closing a gap it has left open for years.

Why does Price County pay $900,000 for insurance it hopes never to use?

Price County self-funds its health plan. It collects premiums into a fund and pays claims out of it. That works until one person has a catastrophic year, which is why the county buys stop-loss coverage.

The policy kicks in at $120,000 per individual, and the county pays roughly $900,000 a year for it. The administrator told the committee to expect three to five people to blow past $100,000 in claims in a given year. Once one does, the stop-loss carrier reimburses everything above the threshold.

The $1.4 million case that paid for itself

Two years ago an employee had a heart attack out of town, then a quadruple bypass, then a long hospital stay. The bill reached about $1.4 million. Price County paid $120,000.

That single case covered years of premiums. The administrator used it to explain why the line item stays in the budget even in years when the fund looks healthy, and why the fund balance is not the same thing as profit.

Why the county does not budget the broker’s number

The broker puts the true cost of a family plan at about $38,700 on HSA Choice and about $40,080 on Premium Plus. Price County budgets somewhere around $32,000 to $33,000 per family plan.

That leaves roughly $6,000 per family plan unfunded against the broker’s estimate, and the county knows it. With around 100 to 120 family plans enrolled, closing that gap would take a seven-figure transfer into the fund. The administrator’s plan is to move the budgeted number up a slice at a time rather than ask for it all at once.

For context on the scale: a $60,000 wage plus about $40,000 in family health coverage, WRS contributions and Social Security puts the real cost of one employee near $120,000 a year. That figure came from the administrator, not from a benefits brochure.

Where that money goes each year is set through the county’s annual budget process, which starts in committee and ends with a board vote. We walked through that structure in how the Price County Board works, and the October 13 budget vote is the clearest recent example of it running on schedule.

Who is leaving Price County government, and who is replacing them?

The employee status list ran long, and the administrator pushed back on reading it as a management problem. His read: people are staying put. Attrition is retirements and young families, not a wave of resignations.

New hires and promotions

Six people started between late August and mid-October, according to the meeting agenda. Kristy Kosterman began August 31 as a behavioral health social worker for CLTS and CCS, one of two positions the board created. Jacob Hecker started September 14 as a highway operator. Michele Herbst took the Park Falls nutrition site manager job September 28, and Morgan Miller took the Ogema site October 5. Treyton Peters started as a forester October 5. Lindsey Hochmuth returned October 12 as a GIFT family home visitor on a grant-funded part-time basis after leaving earlier to stay home with her kids.

The departures include a 23-year lieutenant and his dog

Seven people are leaving or have left. Dawn Nichols retired from the Park Falls nutrition site after six years. Alexis Kertzman finished as deputy clerk of court August 28 after two and a half years. Jasmyn Marlenga left children and youth October 6 after nearly three years. Kaye Erickson left the nutrition program October 13. Miranda Jones finishes in child support October 19 after two months. Kim Polster leaves the accounting and legal assistant job in children and youth January 28, 2027, after 25 and a half years.

Patrol Lieutenant Joe Janak’s last day is October 21, after 23 and a half years, and his K-9 partner Dixon retires with him. Dixon is at the eight-year mark, which is the outer edge for a working dog. The county keeps two canines, Dixon and Kane. Replacing one every four years keeps a dog at each stage.

The sheriff’s office is recruiting donors for a new K-9 before it starts selecting an officer. That sequencing matters, because the department will not pick a handler until the money is in hand.

Janak’s exit lands as Robert Hawn heads into the November 3 general election after winning the August primary 2,489 to 423. The administrator told the committee Hawn is the only name on the ballot, and that a win opens the chief deputy job, which cascades down through lieutenant to deputy.

Twenty-eight people applied for one parks job

The parks and forest technician opening drew 28 applications, the most the administrator has seen on any county posting in a decade. Interviews were set for October 22. He credited the job itself: some days in the woods, some days in a park, fixing things.

Other recruitments are harder. Corporation counsel has drawn almost nothing, and the county continues to contract the work out to firms in Medford and Ashland by specialty. A social worker certificate can be earned on the county’s dime for a new hire who has the credits. Deputy clerk of court interviews were scheduled the same day as the committee meeting.

The mechanic posting stays open while administration rewrites the job description, and possibly the pay scale, to find out whether Price County wants a mechanic or a higher-skill technician. Income continuation insurance, which the committee approved offering to employees, drew about 80% enrollment when it was first offered a year and a half ago. It has carried no premium for 12 years.

What changed in the employee handbook?

Three sections moved: mechanic certification, personal protective equipment and clothing allowance, and basic life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage under Section 22, plus income continuation insurance under Section 23. The agenda lists all four by section number.

None of the changes adds cost to the county except one, and that one is offset. Wartgow argued the full board should see the revisions rather than let the committee absorb them. The administrator will bring a resolution and a red-lined copy to the November board meeting.

The changes also carry the income continuation language the county agreed to a year and a half ago but never wrote into the handbook. That gap, not a new benefit, is what the update fixes.

What happens next?

Open enrollment starts November 4, and the county requires every employee to sit through one of four meetings whether or not they take coverage. A benefits fair runs October 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the board room, with carriers at tables and a light lunch. The committee meets next on Monday, November 9, moved up because the board has to finish the levy before Veterans Day to get numbers to the state on time.

Dental coverage moves to Delta Dental this year after more than a decade on a grandfathered plan, locked for two years. The administrator warned that the third year is not guaranteed, because that is how insurance works.

For the wider budget picture, the board approved a final 2027 draft on October 13 that raises the levy 5.23% and cuts the mill rate 0.06%. During that budget discussion the administrator named health insurance as the long-run concern, with roughly $800,000 to find over the next two budget cycles just to break even on the fund.

The full October 13 board recap covers the $500,000 in short-term borrowing and the campground pet-waste ordinance. The August 11 administration meeting is where the 2% wage assumption and the group life insurance study started.

FAQ

What will Price County employees pay for health insurance in 2027?

About $175 a month for a family on the HSA Choice plan, or about $420 a month, roughly $210 a paycheck, for Premium Plus. Single coverage costs less. The committee approved the schedule by voice vote on October 15, 2026.

What is the deductible on the Price County health plan?

$7,000 for a family on HSA Choice with a $10,000 out-of-pocket maximum, or $3,500 on Premium Plus with a $4,000 maximum. Both plans remain HSA eligible.

Does Price County give employees money for an HSA?

Yes, on the base plan only. $600 a year for single coverage and $1,800 for family coverage, spread over 24 paychecks. Premium Plus enrollees receive no HSA contribution. An extra $125 per person, up to two people, goes into the HSA for an annual physical at the Taylor County Clinic.

When is Price County’s 2027 open enrollment?

It begins November 4, 2026, after a benefits fair on October 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Employees must attend one of four scheduled meetings regardless of whether they enroll.

Who sits on the Price County Administration Committee?

Joe Baratka, Paula Houdek, Preston Sheuermann, Jeff Ulrich and Chair Dennis Wartgow. Baratka was excused from the October 15 meeting.

Sources

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