Doctors’ visits, inflation swell Aspen School District insurance rates, officials say

The Aspen School District changed its benefits plans this spring after being struck by a 22% insurance increase headed into next school year. 

The district reduced the increase to 12% after the plan switch, but will still spend $11,268 per employee on insurance next year according to Amy Littlejohn, Aspen School District director of human resources. This is a $1,207 jump from last year, Littlejohn said. That’ll boost the district’s total insurance expenses by between $200,000 and $250,000 next year. 

“We were above projected usage rate and they had to make a cost adjustment based on that,” Aspen School District Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said of the rate increase.

The district struck a February agreement with the Aspen Education Association, the local educator’s union, to help reduce insurance expenses. With 92% of eligible staff currently on ASD health insurance plans, the district bumped the payment from $3,000 to $4,000 for staff who find external coverage, according to Littlejohn.

Language in the union’s Collective Bargaining Agreement with the district will be updated when the school board approves the new versions of the agreement in May, but ASD and the union have already agreed to the payout increase, she added.

Littlejohn said next year’s insurance increase occurred because the money spent through health care claims came close to or exceeded the money contributed to the health insurance plans through premiums this year. She attributed part of the jump in usage to an increase in checkups as staff caught up on screenings they missed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw a reduction in nonessential doctor visits.

“People didn’t get their screening and they started getting them again,” Littlejohn said. “And with that I think there were some diagnoses that were not caught in the early stages, so that always costs more.”

Inflation and the rural nature of the valley also likely contributed to the jump, she added. 

“It’s harder to find doctors,” she said. “It’s a high cost of area, so you have to pay them more to live here.”

Reducing the insurance increase from 22% to 12% will give the district more leeway to expand employee salaries, Littlejohn said. While the average teacher salary at ASD is currently $76,000, the 2024 Pitkin County salary required to meet a basic cost of living for a family of four is $148,512, according to data collected by the Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commision. 

Salary hikes will be discussed in the Aspen Education Association’s ongoing contract negotiations with the Aspen School District in the next month, according to association President Marnie White. The group will next meet with the school district in a public meeting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23, in the Aspen School District board room.

White said discussions with the district thus far have been good-natured. 

“We get along well and have similar goals of keeping employees and retaining employees and making sure we have excellent staff for our students,” White said. 

Additionally, the reduced insurance increase from 22% to 12% will help the district build back its depleted financial reserves, Littlejohn said. The district’s reserves saw a steady decrease between the 2017/18 and 2022/23 school years, dropping from $8.1 million to $2.8 million, Mary Rodino told The Aspen Times in March. It has operated at a financial deficit for four of the past five years.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.