District evaluates Florida Educators Health Trust membership that could save hundreds of thousands annually
The Flagler County School Board heard a detailed presentation on October 14, 2025, about joining the Florida Educators Health Trust (Fleet), a nonprofit health insurance consortium that promises significant cost savings through collective bargaining power and improved data management.
What is Fleet?
Fleet is a nonprofit health trust established by Florida’s superintendent association to help school districts reduce healthcare costs. The organization currently has 12-13 active members with 25 additional districts, including Flagler County, evaluating membership.
Unlike traditional insurance arrangements, Fleet maintains that member districts keep full control over their health plans, carriers, and vendors. The consortium provides data analysis, actuarial services, and leverages the buying power of approximately 25,000 combined members to negotiate better rates on prescriptions, stop-loss insurance, and administrative services.
“This is a multipurpose building, and I hope that emergency management and sheltering will be the least of its uses,” said Joe Albritten, CEO of Avail Analytics, Fleet’s program manager, explaining the organization’s structure. “Every school district qualifies to be a participant in Fleet.”
Potential Savings
Presenters shared a market analysis of Flagler’s current pharmacy spending with CVS, showing potential savings of approximately $277,000 annually—roughly 10% of the district’s $2.6-3 million pharmacy budget—by switching to a group purchasing organization through Optimum RX.
Fleet representatives also projected 10% savings on stop-loss insurance premiums, which Board Member Will Furry calculated would amount to approximately $70,000 based on current costs of around $700,000.
Combined, these two areas alone could save the district more than $340,000 per year, according to the presentation.
How It Works
Fleet charges member districts $22.25 per enrolled member per month, plus a one-time startup fee of approximately $10,000. This fee covers data warehouse access, actuarial services, performance audits, and regulatory filings that districts typically pay brokers to handle.
Jim Powell with Alliant, Fleet’s insurance broker, explained that the savings come from aggregated purchasing power. “Think of Fleet only times 10,” Powell said, describing one group purchasing organization. “There are 300 employers that are in this Optimum Health trust program spending in excess of five billion a year.”
Board members questioned how the consortium could guarantee lower prices without formal quantity-based contracts. Powell clarified that Fleet connects districts to existing large purchasing pools that negotiate annually with pharmacy companies and other vendors.
Board Concerns
Several board members expressed skepticism and requested additional information before making a decision.
Board Member Christy Chong questioned whether pharmaceutical companies might simply raise rates across their purchasing pools to offset discounts. She also sought clarity on whether the savings applied to all medications or just certain categories.
Board Chair Will Furry asked for a comprehensive side-by-side comparison of current costs versus Fleet membership, including transition expenses and potential service disruptions.
“I want a clear view so that we can make an informed decision,” Furry said. “It’s more or less for the board to have a clear comparison of what we have now and what is being offered in its place and what it’s going to take, how much it’s going to cost us in time, effort, resources to make this transition.”
Superintendent LaShakia Moore noted the timing challenge, as the district’s broker contract with Brown and Brown expires January 3, 2026. Any decision to join Fleet would need to align with the broker procurement process, which typically takes four months.
“I think we have to also consider the fact that we are going into a critical step, which is going out for RFP for our broker,” Moore said.
Maintaining Autonomy
Fleet representatives emphasized that member districts retain complete control over their health insurance choices, unlike traditional interlocal agreements that require all participants to use the same carrier.
“We need full autonomy because the way it had always been built before was on the back of an interlocal agreement,” explained Kramer Royal, chief of staff for Avail Analytics. “When you do that, that allows every school district to maintain full autonomy of who their carrier is, who their PBM is, who their stop-loss carrier is.”
Districts can currently choose from Florida Blue, United Healthcare, Aetna, or Cigna for medical coverage, with all four participating at the Fleet level. The consortium also works with three different pharmacy benefit managers and 15 stop-loss carriers.
Employee Impact
Board members sought assurance that employees wouldn’t lose medication access or face significant formulary changes. Powell estimated that typically only about 1% of members need to change prescriptions when switching pharmacy vendors, and promised to provide a disruption analysis before any transition.
The district’s insurance committee members attended the workshop to hear the presentation firsthand.
Next Steps
Staff will compile additional data for the board’s October 28 meeting, including:
- Detailed cost comparisons between current services and Fleet membership
- Analysis of transition costs and timeline
- Information about extending the current broker contract month-to-month if needed
Board Member Lauren Ramirez requested sample contracts and specific data points to ensure the district maintains freedom to choose carriers and formularies while verifying advertised savings.
The district currently budgets approximately $300,000 annually for safety and security projects, separate from the healthcare discussion, though both involve significant long-term financial planning.
If the board decides to pursue Fleet membership, the district would need to sign a participation agreement, which the Fleet board of trustees would review and approve before beginning a transition process customized to Flagler’s timeline.
