Many school district employees might be paying more for health insurance after Jan. 1 because of a deal worked out this week between the Palm Beach County School District and the unions representing most of the district’s nearly 22,000 employees.
We made the best out of a bad situation, said Daniel Rubin, spokesman for the Service Employees International Union, which represents the district’s blue collar workers such as lunch room workers and bus drivers.
Dianne Howard, district director of risk and benefit management, said premiums for almost every plan would go up an average of at least $20 a month under the proposed collective bargaining agreement on insurance.
The district was able to keep one insurance plan free with the annual deductible unchanged at $500, Howard said. It’s for the lowest level of health maintenance organization coverage for a single employee,
We are sorry we had to raise premiums at all, Howard said. She said the amount the district, which is self-insured, is contributing to each employee’s benefits increased by about $900 this year from about $6,300 to $7,200 because of rising health care costs.
Tony Hernandez, executive director of the Classroom Teachers Association union that represents teachers, said that when negotiations started, the district originally suggested increasing premiums by $40 per month so the union is happy to have cut the proposed increase in half.
Howard said she expects the school board to vote on the proposed health care deal at the Sept. 21 meeting. The unions also have to all ratify the agreement. Hernandez said teachers will be able to vote on the insurance agreement Sept. 15-16.
The district and unions last year already agreed on a wellness program that will impact premiums separate from the health insurance plan.
Employees had until Aug. 1 to sign a tobacco affidavit stating whether they smoke or use other tobacco products. Employees who either signed that they will still use tobacco after Aug. 1 or did not sign the affidavit have to pay a tobacco surcharge of at least $50 per month on their health insurance benefits starting Jan. 1.
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