Galveston, Texas -- Galveston Independent School District’s staff members will have to dip into their pay in January if a recommendation to raise their health insurance premiums is accepted.
The district’s board of trustees voted Wednesday to recommend acceptance of the hike — which will cost most staff members $10 per month — to its lone insurance trustee, David Dworski.
As the district’s chief financial officer, Dworski is likely to accept the recommendation, because he was one of the members of staff involved in presenting the idea to the board during Wednesday’s special meeting.
The district’s insurance committee and its firm of consultants, Boon-Chapman, proposed the additional staff contribution to help offset the district’s expected $1.4 million shortfall in next year’s health-insurance premiums.
During a presentation and discussion, the board heard that the district is mandated by the state to pay $225 per month for every employee into a health-insurance program.
But, at the end of each year, the district has to make a payment to keep the program fully funded.
In an attempt to cut the figure, the trustees voted to change insurance providers, swapping from Cigna to Aetna in January because the latter has guaranteed a discount next year that could save up to $600,000 in premiums.
The board also called on the insurance committee to compare the costs and benefits of private plans with the state’s Teacher Retirement System plan.
"No one is advocating the TRS plan, but we need to compare the two systems in like-for-like manner to see which is better for our employees," Superintendent Larry Nichols said Thursday.
"When you do the math, our total health-care benefit shortfall works out at about $176 per employee per month, which is unsustainable."
In round terms, the math consists of adding the $1.4 million health insurance shortfall to $560,000 the district pays for its CareHere program, dividing it by some 900 employees and dividing the result by 12.
The extra employee contributions will produce $128,000 per year toward the shortfall, leaving the district to pay the remaining $1.2 million or so next year.
"Our total package is very generous compared with other school districts, especially as CareHere provides free clinic visits and treatment for everyone in the plan," Nichols said.
"It’s worth more than $400 per month to each employee, but most potential recruits think we pay only the mandated $225 on their behalf. I’d like that perception to change, too."
The CareHere service is a government-employee program adopted locally by the school district, Galveston County and the city, each of which accepts responsibility for a third of its administrative costs and pays an additional amount according to the usage its employees make of the service.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com’s partnership with the Galveston County Daily News.
