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Council continues decision on municipal insurance

Date: 2/29/2012

Feb. 29, 2012

By Debbie Gardner

debbieg@thereminder.com

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Despite a plea by Mayor Gregory Neffinger for "a unanimous affirmative vote" on proposed revision to the town's employee insurance, a quorum of Town Council members voted instead to continue the vote until their March 5 meeting.

At issue was a request for council acceptance of sections 21 through 23 of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 32B in regards to municipal health insurance plans.

The sections in question, if approved, would affect the collective bargaining power of the town's unions to negotiate for health insurance premiums and co-pays. It would also affect the premiums and co-pays for town retirees on the municipal plan.

Town Council President Kathleen Bourque, Vice President John Sweeney, District 1 Councilor Angus Rushlow and At Large Councilor Robert Mancini recused themselves from debate on the issue, as all are covered under the town's insurance plan.

District 2 Councilor Lida Powell, District 3 Councilor George Condon III and At Large Councilors Bruce Gendron, Brian Griffin and George Kelly formed the quorum that considered the mayor's request.

The Town Council vote followed an Insurance Action Committee (IAC) meeting that heard presentations regarding Chapter 32B sections 21 to 23 earlier in the day.

"We are being asked, as a committee, within four hours of getting the documents … to take a vote that will affect the collective bargaining and families [of municipal employees]," Griffin said prior to the vote to continue the measure. "I am uncomfortable taking a vote before we can review [the material]."

According to information supplied in a document explaining changes to Chapter 32B of the Massachusetts Municipal Health Reform Legislation of 2011, sections 21 to 23 "remove the requirement to follow … bargaining processes" outlined in other sections of the law, when making benefit changes.

Prior to the council's discussion on the issue, several residents, including representatives from the town's patrolman's union, firefighter's union and Department of Public Works union, spoke against the change during the half-hour allotted for Citizens Speak Out.

"It feels like we're being called on time and time again to solve the town's financial woes," Jay Gurney, representing the Patrolman's Union, said. He said the Police Department had already sacrificed benefits such as the Quinn Bill — which provides for additional education for officers — and that the talk about changing the provisions of the town's insurance scared him.

Art Williamson, president of the West Springfield Firefighters criticized the previous administration for sitting on the changes to Chapter 32B for six months before presenting the proposal to the council at its final meeting on Dec. 19, 2011.

"Suddenly, within two months, five members are asked to take a vote that is going to affect every employee that has ever served, or is serving, the town," Williamson said.

He noted that, at an insurance study session earlier that day there had been "great confusion" on dates and legal issues regarding the vote. He asked that the council make sure it had done its "due diligence" before rendering a decision.

During council discussion, Griffin questioned whether Neffinger, who had recently enrolled in the town insurance, could speak as a proponent of the changes without conflict of interest. Town Council Simon Brighenti indicated that under the state Ethics Board's Rule of Necessity, Neffinger could speak to the issue.

The Rule of Necessity, as explained by Brighenti, allows an individual who might have a conflict of interest to speak to an issue if that person is the only one who can, and he or she discloses the potential conflict. Griffin asked that Neffinger file a conflict of interest disclosure form with Town Clerk Otto Frizzell, who was in attendance at the meeting. He asked if Neffinger wanted to consult with Brighenti on the issue.

Neffinger said he felt it "wasn't the position of the Town Council to police the mayor" and that Griffin's request "would come down to a parliamentary maneuver preventing the mayor from speaking" on an issue he felt was critical to the town.

Neffinger indicated he had disclosed his insurance status at the in IAC meeting earlier in the day. Assistant Town Clerk Karen Hershowitz reported that Mayor Neffinger as of Feb. 27 had filed no additional disclosure form with the clerk's office.

Neffinger said he was speaking to the insurance issue "in the best interest of the town," and that, if accepted, the changes would give the town more leverage to negotiate with its single insurance administrator, Blue Cross Blue Shield. He said that a similar move by the city of Holyoke, where it had introduced a second insurance option under a plan from health New England, had resulted in 20 percent of employees choosing the lower cost health insurance option, and a corresponding reduction in premiums and co-pays by Blue Cross.

According to Neffinger, the town could potentially save "up to $1 million" by adopting sections 21 to 23 of Chapter 32B.

He noted ongoing budget concerns, including a current $4 million shortfall in the School Department, as evidence that the town needed to look for savings in as many areas as possible.

"As a mayor, I need to find some ways we can balance our budget," Neffinger said. "Eighty percent [of our spending] comes from salaries and retirees and health insurance [costs].

"We need to bring in the possibility of competition to bring rates down," he continued.

He noted that the provisions under sections 21 to 23 were no different than those adopted at the state level for employee health insurance, and that former Town Councilor and State Rep. Michael Finn had voted for the measure in the Legislature.

He urged the council to approve the measure that evening because implementing the changes required a notification timetable for municipal employees working backwards from the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. Employees, he said, would need to begin payroll deductions as of June 1, and would need to be notified of the premium costs as of May 1.

Neffinger said it would take at least 30 days to receive new plan numbers from the insurance company, have those vetted by the town's IAC, and then approved by the Public Employees Committee (PEC), which represents the town's collective bargaining units. If the PEC could not agree to the proposal, Neffinger said the issue would need to go before the state for arbitration, which would add to the timetable.

Without some reining in of the town's health insurance costs, Neffinger said West Springfield could be looking at having to consider passing a Proposition 2 1/2 override or "slashing the budget drastically" to keep spending in check.



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