Codington County is taking a hard swig of Trumpflation. Last week they had to swallow a 23% increase in health insurance premiums for their public employees:
After postponing a vote for one week to gather employee union feedback and compare competing insurance proposals, the Codington County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, to remain with Sanford Health Plan for county employee health insurance.
The approved renewal retains both the Sanford Standard and Sanford True health insurance plans, which together provide county employees with six different coverage options. At the board’s Oct. 20 meeting, commissioners initially considered a motion to stay with Sanford before Commissioner Lee Gabel moved a substitute motion, seconded by Commissioner Myron Johnson, to delay the final decision until Oct. 27.
…During discussion of the motion, Gabel noted that while rates for the Sanford Standard plans rose about 23% from last year, the high-deductible health plan (HDHP) options paired with a Health Savings Account (HSA) remain competitive at the $4,000 single and $8,000 family deductible tiers.
“So you see the Sanford, you know, the standard rates did go up—I think we’re told that’s about a 23% increase from last year, so that’s a little bit concerning,” Gabel said. “However, the high-deductible plan, which would include the ability to have an HSA, that’s competitive. So that’s on the family side, that’s with the $8,000 deductible, and on the single employee side, that’s with the $4,000 deductible. So I think we’ve done as much diligence as we can” [Steve Jurrens, “Codington County Renews Sanford Health Plan for Employees Despite 23% Standard Rate Increase,” Northeast Radio, 2026.10.28].
Codington County shopped around, and a 23% increase, with huge deductibles, was the best they could do.
Trump said last January he was going to send us money to lower our health insurance premiums. I guess he must have gotten distracted by his own reflection in that big pool in Washington.
Related Rates: Kaiser Family Foundation reports that Affordable Care Act Marketplace premiums are rising 12% to 17% nationwide in 2027. In South Dakota, the crappiest/bronze ACA coverage will rise 7%; the top/gold plans, 10%.