Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said Patrick’s bill would strike a balance between the interests of unions and municipal managers.
Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray urged legislators at the Statehouse on Tuesday to approve Gov. Deval Patrick's bill to lower the costs of municipal health insurance, saying it would respect union bargaining rights and provide financial relief to cities and towns.BOSTON - Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray on Tuesday asked legislators to approve the governor’s bill to lower the costs of municipal health insurance, saying it would respect union bargaining rights and provide financial relief to cities and towns.
Murray testified during a hearing by the Committee on Public Service, which aired various, competing bills for controlling increases in costs of municipal health insurance.
Murray said that the governor’s bill would strike a balance between the interests of unions and municipal managers. Murray said it was critical to approve the bill before the end of the month to assure about $100 million savings across the state for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The governor’s bill, filed in January, would give communities and unions a certain amount of time to either join the state insurance plan or agree on a local plan with the same costs, Murray said. Many details would be left to state regulations, making the bill easier for legislators to approve.
“This proposal will give labor a meaningful role in developing the solution and assure that municipal employees have continued access to quality, affordable health care,” said Murray, who testified in the absence of Gov. Deval L. Patrick, currently on a trade mission to Israel.
Unions and municipal leaders also offered their own plans for reining in the costs of health insurance for cities and towns.
Rep. Stephen Kulik, a Worthington Democrat, testified on his bill, which is backed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Kulik’s bill would allow municipal leaders to establish co-pays and deductibles without negotiating with unions. Under the bill, no municipal plan could charge higher co-pays and deductibles than the state. And unions would keep their current rights to bargain over the share of premiums paid by the community and the employees.
Stephen Kulik“This bill is based on a simple premise: that cities and towns should have the same authority that the state has for designing the details of health insurance coverage for its employees,” Kulik said.
The state insurance plan sets co-pays and deductibles without negotiating with unions.
West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson, who attended the hearing, said he supported Kulik’s bill. In order to reduce costs of health insurance, Gibson said, communities need more clout when bargaining with unions, particularly on co-pays and deductibles.
“Nothing is free at the bargaining table,” Gibson said. “We have to buy out the unions.”
Leaders of public employee unions also offered a compromise plan. The plan calls for unions and communities to set goals for saving costs on health insurance. Unions and managers would either bargain changes to reach the targeted savings or bargain to join the state plan, called the Group Insurance Commission.
The union plan would save about $120 million each year, said Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which has 107,000 members, mostly employees of local and regional schools.
In the first year, employees and municipalities would split the savings. About $60 million a year would be used to offset the increased costs that would be borne by employees.
Linda M. Noonan, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education in Boston, testified in support of a separate business-backed bill that would give municipalities the unilateral power to design health plans.
Noonan said that controlling health care spending is important for education. The business alliance released a study in December that found the cost of health insurance for teachers and other school employees is crowding out funding for books, teacher training and other items that affect student learning.
Rep. John W. Scibak, a South Hadley Democrat and co-chairman of the Public Service Committee, said the issue is very complex. He said any bill would need to account for the differences in municipal health insurance plans.