Reports: Discrepancies found in trust fund's balance

A quarterly report and an independent audit tell conflicting stories about the Idaho School Benefit Trust's finances, according to public documents shared by the Idaho Department of Insurance last week.

Meanwhile, included in those documents, internal board minutes show the trust painted a rosy picture of low rates and stability and unveil that the trust paid out $1.9 million on a single claim, shedding light on why some claims exceeded expectations this past year.

The department is investigating what led to the trust's collapse and has petitioned the court to take over and rehabilitate the self-funded health care plan that pays medical claims for thousands of public school employees and dependents. Among district impacted are the Lake Pend Oreille and West Bonner County school districts.

As of Tuesday, Fourth District Court Judge Lynn Norton has not yet approved the department's request.

"We understand that districts and other interested parties want answers now, and we ask for the opportunity to complete the examination and its determinations before drawing conclusions," department spokesperson Julie Robinson wrote in a Monday email to EdNews.

After receiving multiple records requests, the department last week posted 11 documents totaling 152 pages on its web page dedicated to sharing information about the trust. The documents include:

Independent audits for fiscal years 2024 and 2025

One quarterly report the trust filed last year

Three years of the trust's internal board meeting minutes

The department's two civil filings submitted last month

As a self-funded plan, the trust is required to submit unaudited quarterly statements and an annual audit to the department. The state then checks these documents to make sure the trust is complying with statute, including a requirement to keep a certain level of money saved up in surplus.

Without enough money in the fund balance, the department has the authority to terminate a plan's registration.

The trust's unaudited report for the quarter ending on May 31, 2025, shows it had plenty of money in reserves. It needed a minimum of $8.2 million in surplus and had $13.5 million, an excess of $5.3 million.

After two years of losses totaling $7.3 million, the trust appeared to be having a good year. The report showed a net gain of $2.4 million for the first nine months of the 2024-25 benefit year, which began Sept. 1, 2024, and ended Aug. 31, 2025.

Trustee and treasurer Darren Uranga, also CFO for Elevate Academy, signed the report on Aug. 5.

But an independent audit of its finances three months later told a very different story: The trust was $11.3 million under the legal requirement to operate in Idaho.

"It's certainly something we're investigating," Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron told EdNews on Tuesday.

The trust needed $13.4 million to comply with the law, but ended the fiscal year with $2.1 million, according to the audit.

Instead of a net gain of $2.4 million by the end of the third quarter, the audit showed the trust actually had a net loss of $9 million by the end of the fiscal year.

Sorren CPA's completed the audit on Feb. 23, 2026, and it was sent to the department five days later.

EdNews has asked Uranga and benefits manager Debbie Hainke to explain the large discrepancy between the quarterly report and independent audit, but did not receive a response.

Cameron said he could not share any additional information that could jeopardize the department's investigation.

"I would love to, but I can't," he said.

Trust comes up with short- and long-term solutions

According to the department, the trust's $2.1 million fund balance was a "significant and troubling decline" and showed the trust no longer met statutory requirements to continue to operate in Idaho.

But the "trust and its advisors" assured the department that its stop-loss coverage through Blue Cross of Idaho would carry the trust through the end of the 2025-26 benefit year, according to an FAQ on the department's website.

Meanwhile, the trust already had a long-term solution lined up.

According to the trust's board meeting minutes, trustees on Jan. 27 voted to move to a fully insured plan through Blue Cross of Idaho for the 2026-27 benefit year, which began Sept. 1.

"We thought we were navigating our way through this," Trustee Galen Smyer told EdNews in July.

The trust has operated as a self-insured health care plan since it was formed in 2015. That means the school districts and charter schools that participated were ultimately responsible for paying for all claims. But now as a fully insured plan, Blue Cross of Idaho carries that risk.

But while still self-funded, the trust's plan for its stop-loss coverage to pay claims through the end of the 2025-26 benefit year did not materialize.

As the department explained on its website, stop-loss coverage kicks in above a certain threshold, or an "aggregate attachment point." The trust pays all claims below that point and Blue Cross pays all claims above it.

"The problem is that the Trust's contributions and reserves were insufficient to cover the claims up to the attachment point," according to the department. "The contribution call closes that gap."

The trust did not tell the department that the fund balance continued to dwindle and was completely depleted until July 2026, right around the time the trust broke the news to its more than 100 member employers, according to the department's FAQ.

Trust omits some details in minutes

The trust's board minutes going back to 2024 show the trust inconsistently described rate increases.

The minutes from April 23, 2026 — two months after the audit showed the trust did not meet statutory requirements and had lost $9 million in one year — list four "Advantages of ISBT Participation." One of those advantages: "Stability."

At that meeting, trustees approved a rate increase of 19.5%, but the minutes do not explicitly state that rate or provide the recommendation from its actuary firm, Milliman. Instead, the minutes provide the average renewal rate since 2015, of 7.6%.

That's not how the minutes handled renewal rates for the previous two years.

The minutes from the March 2024 board meeting state Milliman "after a thorough analysis" suggested a renewal rate of 7.7%. Trustees approved the increase. A year later, the minutes from March 2025 state Milliman suggested a 7.2% increase, which trustees adopted.

Representatives from Blue Cross of Idaho and brokerage firm Acrisure regularly attend the trust's board meetings.

Blue Cross in January 2025 presented an annual report. The leading condition by cost in 2023 was musculoskeletal, but that changed to rare, genetic, neuro and autoimmune conditions in 2024. Later in the year, Blue Cross reported an increase in patients with cancer.

In October 2025, Blue Cross informed trustees that it paid out a $1.9 million medical claim, which was originally billed at $6 million. The trust's individual stop-loss rate is $2 million.

The minutes also reveal that Blue Cross made a significant accounting error in 2025. A representative from Acrisure told trustees that Blue Cross "discovered" $1.1 million in claims that were not billed to the trust and had to be paid.

Blue Cross initially asked the trust to pay the $1.1 million within three months. The board asked for more time since it was Blue Cross's error. The insurer later allowed the trust to make repayment within one year.

Deputy Attorney General serves Hainke

As of Tuesday, the Fourth District Court had not yet made a final decision on the department's petition to take over and rehabilitate the trust.

But there has been one update in the court case.

Deputy Attorney General Matthew Steen last week sent Hainke a copy of the petition for rehabilitation as well as a "Proposed Order of Rehabilitation," which will be made public once the judge takes action.

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