When MBAE embarked on our examination of how the foundation budget for education was working, the last thing we thought it would lead to was savings for cities and towns of over $100 million on health insurance costs. Yet, that is exactly what has occurred! After years of debate about municipal health insurance reform, legislative leaders took bold action to give municipalities the ability to join the Group Insurance Commission, or otherwise benefit from group purchasing for employer health insurance. MBAE’s report is credited in a column yesterday by Scot Lehigh ofThe Boston Globe with providing the evidence that was a catalyst for reform – the revelation “that soaring local health care costs were devouring dollars intended for education reform”.
A new analysis from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation shows that savings for cities and towns from municipal health reform are exceeding the $100 million projectedto be gained. Since the plan was first proposed a year ago, a dozen communities have negotiated changes through the traditional collective bargaining process that will save an estimated $30 million in the first year alone. The list of municipalities adopting the new approach and those with negotiations underway is growing. We are delighted with these results and confident that some of these funds will help avoid cuts to education and children will be the beneficiaries.
