RESA wants to cap insurance contributions

About 220 teachers and paraprofessionals are covered under the current bargaining agreement, which expires on June 30. The two sides have met twice since negotiations started in April.

Palm said the biggest sticking point is a proposal to cap the district's health insurance contributions at $5,000 per person, $11,000 per couple and $15,000 per family. Employees would make up any differences.

Known as "hard caps," these amounts represent a big change from the current system in which bargaining unit employees pay $85 per month, regardless of status, Palm said. Adopting the hard caps would raise those monthly contributions to $95, $188 and $297 per month, respectively, for single people, couples and families, according to Palm.However, if no agreement is in place by July 1, all step increases would be frozen, per state law, and employees would cover the resulting health insurance cost increases, Palm said. If that happens, single people would pay $204 per month, couples $408 per month and families $604 per month, he added.

"That's a huge difference between the two (monthly rates) - I hope it gets settled," Board President Sharon Kalling said.

Palm acknowledged that the increases won't be popular. "It's a big hit when you go from $85 (per month), to what we're talking about here," he said.

Other key changes include $250 and $500 deductibles that weren't in place before, Palm said. Office visit and emergency room co-payments will also increase from $20 to $30, and $50 to $150, respectively. Prescription co-payments would go from $10 to $20 for generic drugs, and $50 to $100 for brand name ones, Palm said.

"The prescription drugs costs about 5 percent of any health care plan, so it's been significant - it's a pretty good chunk of change," Ivers said.

The board could also endorse to an 80-20 cost split. However, even if the district uses 80 percent as the benchmark, employees having to cover the remaining 20 percent might still pay higher out-of-pocket costs, Palm said.

The district would save $1.8 million under the hard cap, compared to $700,000 under an 80-20 split, he added. None of these trends should surprise anyone who follows health care costs closely, Ivers said.

"We were the first district in Berrien County to have a self-funded insurance plan, and we've done pretty well at it. We've been able to keep those premiums low - $85 a person is pretty low," he said.

That's why the district began meeting in December 2011 with various employee representatives to find ways of tweaking the plan, which it adopted eight years ago, he added.

The district has also changed its insurance for 50 non-bargaining unit employees, which includes the district's management team, secretaries and custodians, Ivers said. Those employees now pay $100, $150 and $200 per month, respectively, for single people, couples and families, he said.

19 May, 2012