Medical claims for teachers in Coeur d’Alene will be paid in full following the school district’s decision last week to pay its $1.8 million share of the Idaho School Benefit Trust’s $13 million shortfall in a lump sum.

One day after Superintendent Shon Hocker last week told district staff that Blue Cross of Idaho had denied some medical claims from July and August, Hocker sent another memo on Thursday informing employees that the district decided to “put an absolute end to the uncertainty” around summer healthcare coverage and made a “conditional lump-sum payment” to the trust.

“We deeply regret the anxiety this situation caused you over the past several weeks,” Hocker wrote to district staff.

The Idaho School Benefit Trust is a self-funded health care plan that more than 100 school districts and charter schools participated in during the 2025-26 benefit year, which ended on Aug. 31. The trust ran out of money this year and is unable to pay claims. The Idaho Department of Insurance is investigating how that happened.

In order to pay claims, the department negotiated a loan with Blue Cross of Idaho. But if districts and charters didn’t comply with a Sept. 10 deadline to decide how to pay their share of the $13 million shortfall — either a lump sum or monthly installments — Blue Cross of Idaho would deny medical claims.

Coeur d’Alene School District did not meet the Sept. 10 deadline and refused to sign a 12-month binding contract to make monthly payments, leading Blue Cross of Idaho to deny some medical claims from July and August.

According to Hocker’s letter, the district made the lump-sum payment on Thursday, Oct. 1, to ensure claims will be paid.

“Our highest priority has always been to protect you and your families from the stress of delayed or denied claims,” Hocker wrote to staff.

Wallace School District also did not comply with the Sept. 10 deadline and refused to sign the contract for monthly payments. Superintendent Todd Howard told EdNews on Monday that he has not been informed of any denied claims for district employees, dependents or retirees.

Howard said the district has made two monthly payments so far and school leaders have not changed their minds on signing the 12-month binding contract.

“If, at a later date, it is conducive for the district to pay the remaining amount of the payment, we could elect to pay the rest in a lump sum,” Howard wrote in an email to EdNews.