Mass Municipal Association urges action on municipal health insurance

The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) is calling on municipal boards and citizens to help change the way that public employee health insurance plans are administered by municipalities. The legislation they are backing would allow municipalities to negotiate and design insurance plans in the same way that the state can with state employees. The MMA estimates that the plan would save taxpayers $100 million a year.
You can read the bill here, http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/186/ht02pdf/ht02509.pdf .
The MMA has prepared a fact sheet about the proposed legislation which can be found at this link, http://pokanoketlax.webs.com/PDF%20Docs/plan_design_fact_sheet_mar10.pdf
Mr. Beckwith, the MMA's Executive Director, has sent this letter to legislators urging them to act ...

... and pass this important reform. His letter concludes,

This is a very focused and moderate proposal. Under the bill,
municipalities would still negotiate any changes in the employee-employer premium share, giving municipal unions more bargaining authority than state unions. Municipalities would be able to modernize the health plan design outside of collective bargaining, with a guarantee that all municipal and school employees would still have health plans that are the same or better than what state employees receive, meaning no municipal plan could have higher co-pays or deductibles than the state.

Add your voice by contacting your local Representative or Senator, you can find their contact information here, http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm