Council learns of impending health insurance rate changes
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by Jeff Snyder
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — During its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, the Mount Ayr City Council was given a presentation by the city’s health insurance provider on possible plan changes and rate increases. The plan is slated for renewal in early 2026.
The current program is provided by Wellmark, which is an independent licensee of Blue Cross/Blue Shield. A Wellmark representative provided the council with a video presentation outlining the impending changes and options available to the city.
The presentation focused on two primary areas of interest. First, the upcoming premium increase percentages and secondly the addition of an alternative plan option.
Currently, the plan has only one plan option labeled “Bronze” The proposed plan would add an option to choose the Silver plan from Wellmark, which is a more expensive program, but includes lower out of pocket expenses.
The premium increase is 10.38 percent for the existing Bronze plan. The presentation went on to discuss the current out of pocket costs connected to each offering.
Due to the complexity of the changes and the added options made available, the council elected to table any decision on the renewals until the next regular meeting on December 8. The Wellmark representative indicated that no final decision would be needed until the renewal date got closer, likely toward the end of December.
In other business, council voted on a proposed Agent of Record (AOR) change. The council, after deliberation, accepted and authorized changing the AOR to Julie Davison, with Farm Bureau Financial Services in Mount Ayr. The council felt it was important to maintain a local presence for this line of business with the city.
Other agenda items included a review of a variety of resolutions. Resolution 2025-28 included the Annual Finance Report, the Urban Renewal Report and the Street Financial Report. All were approved by unanimous consent.
A tree removal agreement proposed by Rick Farrell was reviewed by the council as a continuing project connected with the removal of dozens of diseased trees located throughout the community. The figures were examined and determined to be subject to additional consideration and the topic was then tabled until the December 8 meeting.
The council also finalized a procedural amendment to the cities ordinances related to the placement of two stop signs in the city limits. These signs were placed at the intersections of East Adams and North Polk streets as well as a sign at the intersection of North Hayes and East Columbus streets.
The council also approved of a tax abatement request filed by Shaun Kniep for a building project being undertaken at 1116 South Hayes St. The request was rendered as part of the city’s Urban Revitalization Plan.
