By Jonathan L'Ecuyer
Staff Writer
January 12, 2009 05:50 am ROCKPORT — Town Administrator Michael Racicot estimates the town could save between $125,000 and $150,000 in annual health-care costs for the next fiscal year if its employees agree to modest increases in copayment fees. Faced with expected increases in health-care costs and dwindling revenues, Racicot met with officials from Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), and the town's labor union representatives last week to begin negotiations on potential changes in employee copays. Currently, town employees and a handful of elected officials enroll in Blue Cross Blue Shield health maintenance organizations (HMOs) or preferred provider organizations (PPOs) offered through the MIIA, a collaborative of 130 Massachusetts cities and towns operating under the umbrella of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA). Employees currently pay $25 per trip to the emergency room and a $5 copay for doctors' visits. The town wants to raise those copays to $50 and $10, respectively. This year, the town appropriated $3,036,082 in the budget for health-care costs — a 4-percent increase over fiscal 2008 — but officials are anticipating an 8 percent increase in costs for fiscal 2010, so the town has set aside $3,250,906. "We're hoping and praying it will be less than that," Racicot said. Just over 240 people are covered by the town's employee health-care plan. That number includes town employees, as well as each member of the Board of Assessors, Town Clerk Fred Frithsen, Selectmen Armand Aparo and Charles Clark, and some retired town employees and former elected officials with at least 10 years of service, including former Selectman Ted Tarr, According to Racicot, each family plan costs $1,530.76 per month or $18,369.12 per year. Each employee or official pays 25 percent of the annual premium, or $4,592.28 for family coverage, while the town picks up the remaining tab of $13,776.84. Racicot said that increasing the copayment amounts would reduce employees' weekly paycheck deductions while also saving the town 5 percent, or up to $150,000 per year. Aparo said he hoped the town's labor unions are able to see merit in the town's request to increase copay amounts, especially given the bleak economic outlook for fiscal 2010 and beyond. "We definitely need this," Aparo said last week. Each union, including the local chapter of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents the town's public works and library employees; the Rockport Patrolman's Association; the teacher union; the school support staff union; as well as retirees and non-union staff, must agree to the changes for them to take effect. Racicot asked all the union representatives to take the information back to their members and to plan on attending a second meeting later next month. Rockport Patrolman's Association President William Budrow attended the meeting but said, as of Friday, he had not yet presented the information to his fellow members. However, he was pleased with the information provided during the first meeting and glad town officials were willing to negotiate with the local union groups. "(The change in copayments) will mean something different for each individual," Budrow said. "We'll take everything into consideration and see where it goes. I thought (the copay increases) were fair; I understand the reasons for it." The town won't know how much its overall health-care costs will increase for fiscal 2010 until it receives the new rates in early February, Racicot said. Officials from the insurance company said they preferred not to change copay amounts until July 1, but would make a special allowance to change the copayments later this calendar year if all parties agreed. If copay increases are not approved, another money-saving option for Rockport would be entry into the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC), Racicot said. Under current legislation, 70 percent of a municipality's unionized labor force have to agree to entering the GIC. So far, of the 351 municipalities in the state, only 24 cities, towns and regional school districts have joined the GIC. House Speaker Sal DiMasi, however, said he plans to file legislation this month to allow municipalities to join the GIC without union approval. Statewide, if every municipality had joined the GIC, they could have collectively saved $100 million this year, according to a report by the Boston Municipal Research Bureau and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. That amount, the report said, could swell to $750 million by 2013, and to $2.5 billion by 2018. The Massachusetts Teachers Association has called DiMasi's announced move "an attack" on workers' rights, and other union officials have denounced any such move as "undemocratic." Union leaders say coverage through the GIC would result in higher deductibles, higher drug costs, and higher copayments for doctor visits. However, municipal officials, including Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk, noted in recent months that premiums are less expensive through the GIC, meaning the move into the commission would equate to up-front savings for workers as well as the cities, towns, and for the taxpayers who foot the bill. If legislation passed giving municipal executives the authority to enter their communities into the GIC, Racicot indicated it would be irresponsible of him not to explore the possibility, but he did not go so far as to say he would make the move. Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com. c_
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