Commissioners on Oct. 31 opened and recorded bids for county workers’ compensation and heard competing presentations about insurance options.

The county recorded two bids for workers’ compensation: KWORK (a county pool) submitted $54,075 and an EMC-insured proposal through a local agent was recorded at $78,228. Commissioners agreed to review the bid documents and to consult the county attorney before taking final action; they did not vote to award a contract at the meeting.

Local agent Kirk presented an EMC proposal and stressed EMC’s experience insuring public entities and the company’s position that it does not assess policyholders for pool shortfalls. Kirk said the quote was based on audited payroll figures supplied by county staff and explained that final premiums could change after the policy audit.

Darren, representing Teal Insurance and Freedom Claims/Freedom Choice, presented alternative funding scenarios for the county’s major-medical coverage and described Freedom Claims’ funding models, an HSA option, and comparative projections showing different overall premium increases depending on reserves and plan structure. Charles Mayfield, a Blue Cross Blue Shield group sales consultant, also spoke about Blue Cross’s statewide provider network and new cost-savings tools to reduce specialty-drug costs.

Commissioners asked vendors to provide clarified payroll and reserve figures and agreed to make a decision at an upcoming meeting; the bids were to be considered again at the next regular session.

The meeting also included administrative votes earlier in the agenda: the commission approved warrants and payroll for Oct. 31 and approved minutes for Oct. 13 and Oct. 21; it also approved adding Chase County treasurer Bernice Albers and Nick Rogers to Cottonwood Valley Bank accounts and later adopted resolution 2025-08 adding Tiffany Harshman and Nick Rogers to municipal investment pool access.