As Sachse prepares to enter the new year, it is lining up the benefits package it will offer to employees.

Council received a presentation from the city’s benefits consultant, Jonathan Weegar from HUB International, during the Tuesday, Nov. 1, special meeting.

City Manager Gina Nash said the city does not typically address benefits for the upcoming plan this far in advance but moved up the timeline because of changing insurance providers.

“This is a huge change for us,” Nash said. “We’re down some staffing in the human resources department right now so we would really need the extra time to make this switch to make sure that it’s good, handled well and that the employees are able to make a good choice. This is going to be great for the employees but it is going to add a new plan we’ve never had before.”

Weegar said the city currently uses United Healthcare, adding that there was a projected 26% increase in the city’s premium cost because of overages over the past few years. Typically, United Healthcare aims for an 85% target loss ratio but Sachse’s figure was 102% in 2022.

“Of course we were anticipating an increase from UHC because of the losses they have experienced,” Weegar said. “Some of the significant liability on the plan has fallen off so we’re anticipating the plan experience looking much more favorable in 2023.”

For the full story, see the Nov. 10 issue of The Sachse News.