Joe Tilden

A decision to shop around for a new insurance consultant backfired on Park County commissioners, as they not only failed to find a better offer, but had their current consultant raise its rates. The Park County government now stands to pay tens of thousands of dollars more in the coming years.

After receiving proposals from six different firms, county commissioners concluded last month that they would be better off sticking with their current consultant. USI Insurance Services appeared to offer the best price and the county remains extremely happy with the firm’s services, according to Clerk Colleen Renner.

However, in its new proposal, USI significantly raised its rates. Instead of charging $30,000 a year for its services, USI will collect $40,000 in 2022 and $50,000 for the three years after that, Renner said. 

Over the next four years, the county stands to pay USI $70,000 more than it did over the last four — a 58% increase.

“At this stage, it was a bad idea to put it out to bid,” Park County Commissioner Joe Tilden offered at the Oct. 5 meeting. He’d been the only member of the board to oppose shopping around.

The county has relied on the services of USI since 2011 and the firm has been credited with helping to get the county’s insurance costs under control. When USI was first brought on board, the county’s self-insured plan was hemorrhaging money; costs have since stabilized and the plan has performed significantly better than the national average.

In April, however, commissioners decided it was time to issue a request for proposals (RFP) and see if other firms might be interested in the county’s business; the hope was to find a better rate.

Clerk Renner passionately argued against the idea of issuing an RFP at an April 6 meeting.

“There’s reasons why you don’t go out for bid,” Renner said, suggesting commissioners table the discussion and speak with USI. She praised the firm’s great service and noted it hadn’t raised its fees since taking the county on as a client.

“Maybe they were charging us too much to begin with,” responded Commission Chairman Lee Livingston.

Livingston, who suggested putting out an RFP after a conversation with an insurance broker, said he rebids his own insurance every few years “to keep them honest, keep them on their toes.” The chairman called 10 years “a long time” to go without exploring other options.

“What is the harm in going out for an RFP on this?” he asked — adding that he didn’t think the county would necessarily switch providers.

During the April discussion, Commissioner Lloyd Thiel agreed that going out for proposals “does keep everybody honest and their pencil sharp.” While having no issues with USI’s performance, “I think we owe it to the taxpayers to just look,” he said.

Commissioner Scott Mangold said sticking with USI might be easier, but he wanted to see if there was an opportunity to save the county some money; Commissioner Dossie Overfield joined them in supporting the RFP.

Tilden cast the lone dissenting vote.

“I think you just made a big mistake,” he said, warning that the county could be opening up “a huge can of worms.”

Ultimately, the county received proposals from Seattle-based USI and five other firms: three in Wyoming, one in Colorado and another in Michigan. A county committee made up of Renner, Overfield, former Park County Commissioner Loren Grosskopf and six county employees reviewed each proposal and recommended sticking with USI.

The panel’s second choice was HUB International in Casper, which said it would charge $30,000 to $45,000 a year in fees, according to a summary of the proposals provided by Renner. The Michigan-based firm, Salus Group, said it would charge only $20,000 a year in fees and Employee Benefits Consulting Services of Cheyenne laid out $30,000 in annual fees, according to the county’s summary. However, at the commission’s Oct. 5 meeting, Renner said additional commissions charged on certain large claims would negate any savings. Exactly what percentage the companies would charge wasn’t completely clear and the committee opted not to follow up with interviews or questions. Renner said the group decided it wasn’t worth the cost of paying the firms’ travel costs for an interview.

Livingston questioned that decision.

“I think that with something like this, it would be interview-worthy if you have questions — or at least submit your questions to them explaining their RFP to you — but that’s just me,” he said.

Tilden, however, suggested there was no need, because the county knew the other firms would charge additional commissions.

Separately, county commissioners reaffirmed a decision they made last year to no longer offer $500 HSA payments to employees and spouses who complete preventative wellness measures like blood draws. The payments, which cost the county about $78,000 a year, were intended to encourage employees to take actions to prevent or catch health problems before they became serious (and expensive).

Tilden said he believed the incentives were working and Overfield seconded his motion to reinstate the HSA payments, but Thiel and Mangold voted no, and Livingston cast the tie-breaking vote against the measure.  

“I’m not in favor of spending the money just asking people to do stuff they should do anyway,” Livingston said.