District 210 Reports Insurance Deficit Amid National Healthcare Cost Spikes; Finances Remain Stable

Lincoln-Way District 210 Board of Education Meeting | February 19, 2026

Article Summary: Assistant Superintendent Michael Duback reported a $630,000 deficit in the District’s medical plan performance for the 2025 calendar year due to claims exceeding premiums, though overall fiscal year budgets remain on track. The Board also discussed the impact of the Governor’s recent budget address, which indicates a reduction in expected state funding for categorical reimbursements.

Finance and Insurance Key Points:

• Medical Plan Deficit: The medical plan ran a deficit of $631,129.09 for the 2025 calendar year, while the dental plan saw a deficit of $41,605.23.

• Cash Balance: The District reported a total cash balance of $68.4 million as of January 31, 2026.

• State Funding Shortfall: The District anticipates receiving approximately $350,000 less in special education transportation funding than initially allocated due to state proration.

• Budget Alignment: Despite insurance variances, the District has received 49.8% of budgeted operating revenues and spent 55.1% of budgeted operational funds, trending within 1% of the previous year’s performance.

NEW LENOX – During the Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 Board of Education meeting on Thursday, February 19, 2026, administrators addressed rising healthcare costs that resulted in a deficit for the district’s self-funded insurance plan during the 2025 calendar year.

Assistant Superintendent Michael Duback presented the Treasurer’s Monthly Financial Report and a quarterly insurance update. The “Q4 Insurance Report” revealed that for the 2025 calendar year, total medical costs (claims and fixed costs) exceeded funded premiums by $631,129.09.

“This is not a Lincoln-Way specific matter. This is a healthcare sector matter as I’m sure you’ve heard and read nationally in terms of healthcare costs right now,” Duback told the Board.

However, Duback noted that the district budgets for these potential fluctuations. When analyzing the fiscal year—which runs from July to June—the district is currently within $20,000 of the budgeted target for the first six months.

Superintendent Dr. R. Scott Tingley noted that a new insurance plan design was implemented on January 1 to help mitigate these rising costs.

“There’s calendar year and fiscal year. Obviously, fiscal year budget-wise, we are right on track,” Tingley said. “We tracked a calendar year… that led to an adjustment in our plan design for the calendar year.”

Duback explained the plan changes include a redesigned three-tier PPO model. “Instead of a 90/10 split, for example, [the middle tier] is an 80/20,” Duback said, adding that the change had a “minimal impact for our employees… but for Blue Cross… it really drove down premium cost.”

In the legislative report, Dr. Tingley addressed Governor Pritzker’s recent budget address, warning the Board that the district will receive less state funding than anticipated for mandated categoricals.

“They are going to prorate our categoricals once again,” Tingley said. “When they say, ‘Oh, we’re increasing it by $150 million,’ that does not keep up with our current proration. So we will be at 60% or below in many of those categories now in terms of reimbursement funding.”

Specifically, Duback noted that the final special education transportation allocation from the state is expected to be $350,000 lower than the initial total. He indicated he would bring an amended budget to the Board in the spring to account for this shortfall.

Despite these challenges, the district’s overall financial health remains stable. The Treasurer’s Report showed revenues of $3.6 million and expenses of $36.9 million for January, largely driven by a scheduled $27.1 million bond payment made on January 1.