Codington County Delays Employee Health Insurance Decision for Union Review
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Codington County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, to delay action on the county's employee health insurance proposal for one week to allow commissioners and employee unions time to review newly submitted quotes.
During Tuesday's meeting at the Codington County Courthouse in Watertown, Auditor Brenda Hanten provided commissioners with a comparison sheet detailing health insurance proposals received from multiple agencies, including Kranz Insurance, Wishard Insurance, and Leavitt Group, with options involving Sanford Health Plan, Avera Health Plans, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Initial Motion for Sanford Plans
Commissioner Lee Gabel (District 1) initially moved to accept Kranz Insurance's quote, which offers both the current standard Sanford plan and the Sanford TRUE plan, providing six coverage options for county employees. Vice Chairman Randy Schweer (District 5) seconded the initial motion.
Gabel noted that while none of the options are perfect, insurance costs are rising for both the county and employees, and offering both Sanford options would pair the existing network with a lower-cost alternative.
"So, on the one hand, none of this is perfect," Gabel said. "The Sanford TRUE plan, that looks like the lowest cost thing for the employees, potentially the issue though being that you're very limited to out of network. If you're going to need something out of network, then that's a problem. So, then you still have the current Sanford, you know, basically the current plan where the premiums are going to go up significantly. So we're kind of, you know, none of this is perfect. So I like the idea of offering multiple options to employees."
Union Review and Open Enrollment Timeline
Before voting on the initial motion, Gabel asked how selecting a different provider would affect the county's open enrollment timeline and union consultation.
Human Resources Representative Natalie Remund told the board that the county's union contracts require the county to give unions an opportunity to provide input and comment if the board decides to reduce coverage, lessen benefits, or change providers to alternatives such as Blue Cross or Avera. Remund noted that while the unions knew the county was requesting proposals, the county received the final numbers only Friday and Tuesday morning and had not yet presented them to the unions.
Remund also noted that most of the submitting agencies suggested that lowering costs further would require plan revisions, such as increasing copays for specialists or emergency room visits or adjusting the $1,000 deductible option.
Regarding the timeline, Hanten and Remund explained that December payroll deducts January insurance premiums, so employees must be loaded into the payroll system beforehand. In addition, employees need at least two weeks during open enrollment to determine whether their medical providers are in-network or out-of-network.
Remund said delaying the final decision by one week would still leave time to begin open enrollment in mid-November, though the schedule is getting tight.
Substitute Motion to Delay Action
Following the discussion, Gabel made a substitute motion to delay action on the employee health insurance proposals for one week so both commissioners and the unions can review the updated numbers. Commissioner Myron Johnson (District 3) seconded the substitute motion, and the board passed it unanimously by voice vote.
Chairman Troy VanDusen (District 4) noted that the board will need to take final action on the health insurance proposals at next week's meeting.
