PEC General Meeting Minutes

PEC General Meeting Minutes

Memorial Middle School AuditoriumWednesday, March 07, 2012

The meeting began at 5 PM with members from all 17 City Unions present. The following members of the PEC were introduced: Kim Bellio- Teachers, Sue Flynn- Paras, Dick Tellier- Custodians, Bonnie Baer-Simahk- School Administrators, Roberta Phelan- Cafeteria Workers, Nancy Orsini-School Clerical, Malcolm Lillie- School Nurses, David Keyes- DPW, Trevor Bonilla- City Hall Managers, Tad Dateo-Fire, Keith Bourne and Ryan Keenan- Police, Marcia Ladd- Library, John Beauchmin- Wastewater, Terry Parker- Teamsters, Brian Lorian- Retirees.

It was the PEC’s Goal to-

• Retain the ability to negotiate health insurance benefits outside the new Massachusetts Municipal Health Care Law- (Chapter 69, Sections 21-23)
• Maintain quality plans- specifically Blue Cross Blue Shield plans
• Avoid plans with up front deductibles and/or tiers
• To minimize as much cost shifting as possible

The state legislature passed this new law on July 12, 2011 and sent it on to municipalities to adopt and implement giving Mayors the right to design health insurance plans as a way to cut costs for the cities and towns.

The PEC approached the Mayor in November (2011) to find out her intention about adopting the new law and to inform her of our willingness to negotiate prior to adopting the law with the premise that we could negotiate and design plan changes that would continue to be cost effective for the City as well as acceptable for employees.

It is important for everyone to remember that the city of Fitchburg is a “self insured” provider. This means that we pay our own claims. All bi-weekly paycheck deductions are put into a health trust account. When an employee goes to the doctors they pay their co-payment (currently $15). The doctor bills Blue Cross for the entire cost of the visit- probably in the $200 range. Blue Cross pays the difference of $185. Then at the end of each month, Blue Cross bills the city of Fitchburg for all the costs incurred. The same is true for Emergency Room visits, Same Day Surgery and Inpatient hospital stays, MRI’s etc. We pay those cost from our health trust fund. This is common in many cities and towns. Last year the city of Fitchburg paid over $13 million dollars for Health Insurance.

Those present were able to see the Mayor’s proposed changes, a GIC look alike plan that would have reduced cost to city by close to $1,362,000 but shift more costs to the employee with deductibles and tiers. We heard from members that we wanted to maintain our Blue Cross plans, avoid deductibles and avoid tiered plans so they continued to negotiate and reached a compromise with Network Blue Enhanced Value which would save the city $867,109.

After a series of intense negotiations, an agreement was reached on a two-year contract that would

• Avoid adoption/implementation of the new Municipal Health Insurance law

• Retained the ability to bargain our health insurance plans
• Keep our Blue Cross plans with no deductibles or tiers and premium costs that are close to our current premium costs

After a discussion a motion was made and seconded to accept the changes to our current health care contract.

The motion was put to a ballot vote. The motion carried with a majority vote.

Everyone should be watching for more city wide benefit informational meetings so they can learn the details of each of the plans that are being offered prior to the open enrollment period in May. These changes will take effect on July 1, 2012.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kim Bellio

FEA Corresponding Secretary

3/16/2012