Switch to Quartz health insurance plan saved Baraboo district $1M in first year

Apr. 14—Switching to Quartz health insurance saved the Baraboo School District $1 million in just one year, according to a report Monday.

The school board dropped Dean as its health insurance provider in 2019, opting for a high-deductible plan through Quartz combined with The Difference Card, which offsets copays and deductibles to make them affordable for members. Savings then were estimated to be at least $1.31 million over the course of three years.

A report shared with the school board showed the district's actual premium in the 2019-20 school year totaled just over $3.86 million, more than 20% less than the almost $4.86 million it would have paid under Dean's plan. The premium was about $207,000 less than expected and $422,000 under the maximum cost.

"That was an exceptional year," said Dan Lewison of Don-Rick Insurance, the district's insurance agent. "The district did very, very well with this program (and) continues to do so."

Currently in the second year of the Quartz contract, the district's premium is forecasted to be $4.25 million. Lewison said claims dropped last spring because of COVID-19, bringing them "way under the expected or the maximum."

He and Yvette Updike, the district's business manager, recommended the district accept Quartz's 5% increase for the 2021-22 carrier premium in its budget. Combined with projected claims, they forecast the total premium to be about $4.51 million, which is still less than Dean's 2019-20 proposal.

Lewison cautioned board members about making presumptions about coming years based on the current data from Quartz, noting they are too new.

"We talked about this, if anybody recalls, that year four could be ugly, and that was a risk everybody was willing to take," he said. "Like I said, let's spend the night and be thankful for how well this worked out."

As of March 1, almost 300 people were enrolled in the district's health insurance plan, according to the report.

Follow Susan Endres on Twitter @EndresSusan or call her at 745-3506.

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