Community Corner

Belair's Challenge

How The Superintendent Will Control Health Care Costs As He Negotiates Five Union Contracts

In the winter and spring of 2009-'10, the focus was on President Barack Obama’s health care reform plan. Now, and in the summer and fall of 2011, it’s Superintendent Jerome Belair’s turn.

In the upcoming year's budget, the board of education faced a $1.6 million increase of health insurance. This increase was the biggest reason the board had to lay off 11 full-time certified personnel, and after attrition, is down 25 positions from last year.

The same thing happened as First Selectman Dan Steward dealt with the general government side, with health insurance representing a $1 million-plus increase over last year.

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Now, it is up to those two men, particularly Belair, to address that issue. And both men have similar strategies.

Both are focused on keeping claims down. Waterford is self-insured, and the fewer claims, the less the town has to pay.

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The Strategy

Steward is negotiating one contract with a union this summer. Belair, meanwhile, will be negotiating five. Six unions are under the authority of the board of education.

Those negotiations are key to driving down health care costs, both men said. And while part of it is having the union members pay a larger percentage of the health insurance (the teachers pay the highest at 18 percent), the other part will be what kind of insurance they have.

For example, the amount a person pays in co-pays can have a large impact on health choices and ultimately bring down costs, Belair said. If co-pays are higher, fewer people will go to the doctors, he said.

“If Junior scrapes his knee and there is a $5 co-pay, you are going to take him to the hospital,” Finance Director Rudie Beers said at a recent RTM meeting, a point Belair echoed. “If Junior scrapes his knee and there is a $20 co-pay, then you might put some peroxide on it.”

Some co-pays are as low as $5, with the teachers union paying the highest, at $20, Belair said. The idea is not to keep people who are truly sick from going to the doctor, but instead to reduce trips that perhaps are not as necessary, Belair said.

The second part is education, he said. For example, at a recent meeting with people within the unions, he encouraged people to go to the doctor’s office instead of the emergency room for non-emergencies. This can save the town $400, as an office visit is much cheaper, he said.

“Maybe, if you are sick on a weekend, and you wait until Monday to see your doctor instead of going to the emergency room,” Belair said. “A trip to your primary physician can cost $100 or $150; an emergency room visit can cost $400 to $500.”

The key part of the education, and holding meetings with the union representation, is to show that it isn’t the administration versus the worker, Belair said. Instead, they are all in this together, and if claims can be kept down, that will mean layoffs can be avoided, he said.

“It isn’t us versus them. We need to all be together on this one,” Belair said.

The third part is to install a wellness program to promote healthier living and thereby reduce claims, Belair said. Unlike higher co-pays and higher cost sharing, that does not have to be negotiated, Belair said.

The fourth major part is to look how the town can improve its insurance system. In the fall, the town will put out its insurance to bid, and see if their our savings from other companies, or perhaps if there is savings from going to an indemnified program, he said.

Along those lines, the town can also look into regionalizing health care insurance, and possibly getting in with the state to buy prescription drugs at the same, lower rates the state buys them at. Everything will be on the table, Belair said.

Union Response

The town unions are on board with fixing health care, said Recreation and Parks Program Director Kerry Sullivan, who is a representative of the Government Administration Association union.

“We are here to work with the town,” Sullivan said. “We want to address this issue as much as the town has to.”

The unions are pushing for all of them to have the same plan, she said. Also, the meetings with administration have been productive, she said.

However, the unions are not just going to take big cuts in their health insurance, Sullivan said.

“We are not going to be the catalyst for (administration),” Sullivan said. “But we aren’t going to fight them either.”

The teachers union, which is the largest union in town, is on board with these changes, Sullivan said. They have been very open to ideas addressing health care, she said.


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