Minutes from the October 14, 2026 Bates County Commission meeting
The Bates County Commission met with Presiding Commissioner Jim Wheatley, Northern Commissioner John Gray and Southern Commissioner Trent Nelson present.
Chris Gach was present for all meetings.
Michael Boonyakiti and William Harbors, with Axios Supplemental Insurance, came in and spoke with the Commission. Jami Page, Bates County Clerk, and Jennifer Bolling, Deputy County Clerk, joined. Michael explained the process of what they do and how they would be able to help employees. Jami and Jennifer felt that this was something to investigate, as there has been an uprise in confusion due to the amount of Insurance Agents that have come in and spoke with the employees. With Axion, there will be one broker that the employees will speak to and that broker will help them and take care of their supplementals. Jennifer asked about their billing, asking if the County would pay Axion but Michael confirmed that for now, the County would still be paying the supplementals for now, but they are in the process of making it to where the county could pay Axion directly and then Axion would distribute from there.
Axion has 72 different Supplemental Insurances and would help the employee with whatever one they had; therefore, they would not need to reach out to the Insurance themselves.
Trent stated that he felt like this would help Jennifer and was in support of anything that would help her out. John stated that he had no issues and was in support of this making it easier for Jennifer. Jim then stated that they would like to have a week to call other counties to see what they think.
Jami Page, Bates County Clerk, and Jennifer Bolling, Deputy County Clerk, met with the Commission to discuss the information they retained while calling other counties. Only one county had minor issues, but the Commission felt as if this could be resolved as the company grows. They mentioned that it was a good possibility that the county did not reach out and tell Axios about the issue. Jami felt it was a good idea to call Michael Boonyakiti, with Axios, and ask him about these concerns. While Jami was trying to get ahold of Michael, Jennifer asked the Commission if there was anything else they felt they could do to make this process easier if Axios is not an option. Chris Gach wondered if Charles, with Cooks Insurance, would know of any brokers that offered the same option.
Jami had Michael on speaker phone and asked him about the review that a certain County had given and wondered if he had even known about the issue. Michael was certain that he was unaware and was going to reach out and get the issue resolved. They discussed more minor concerns and ended the call feeling confident that Axios could be something that would help the employee confusion. Jim asked if there were any other brokers that offered the same thing as them. Michael didn’t seem to understand the question, so Chris rephrased and asked if Axios had any competitors. Michael stated that they did not.
Jami and Jennifer were both in high hopes that this is what they need to clear confusion and help the employee. They will know what insurance(s) they have; they won’t have multiple supplements that provide the same coverage and HR will be able to run smoother. They have not decided yet, as they are informing employees and allowing for more investigating into the matter.
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