Communities take different paths to health savings

There’s no one-size-fits-all model when it comes to realizing savings on municipal health insurance costs.

The Municipal Health Insurance Reform Act, signed on July 12, lays out two pathways to savings: changing the health insurance features, such as co-payments and deductibles, up to the amounts of the most-subscribed plan offered to state employees through the Group Insurance Commission, or moving municipal employees to the GIC.

The shifting environment on health insurance has also led municipal officials and labor unions to come together to make changes through traditional collective bargaining. The city of Revere is one example. Mayor Tom Ambrosino was initially looking to move city employees into the GIC, but after their strong opposition, he decided to go a different route.

“I was willing to work with them on concessions that did not require GIC entry, as long as we achieved savings that are reasonably comparable,” said Ambrosino. “At the end of about a month of negotiations, we reached a deal with changes to contribution rates and co-pays that yielded about 75 percent of the savings otherwise available from the GIC, but with no portion of savings going back to unions. So, all in all, a good deal for the city that at the same time kept employees happy.”

In Arlington, which used the new law to join the GIC, the town and its employees also agreed to change the premium contribution split through traditional collective bargaining.

MIIA will be hosting a workshop about using the Municipal Health Insurance Reform Act at MMA’s Annual Meeting on Jan. 20 in Boston.