Council, School Board Vote to Join Insurance Collaborative

The town council and school board both approved a motion to join a health insurance collaborative with EastConn and a number of other towns in an effort to lower insurance costs in a joint meeting on Wednesday night. 

The coalition, including Tolland, will be a part of an Administrative Services Only insurance plan, as opposed to the current fully insured plan for town and school district employees. 

According to the agenda, the new type of plan will lower administrative services fees by 8 percent, although savings may not be apparent for several years since the town must generate cash reserves for unexpected claims, for which the town is now immediately responsible. 

Under the new plan, a family HSA rate is $16,347 annually, as opposed to the previous plan's costs of $16,647. School employees under a PPO plan will now cost $27,208, a decrease from $27,801. 

The coalition was developed after the state passed legislation last year allowing health care coalitions between municipalities, according to the agenda.

All of the towns participating in the coalition (Griswold, Plainfield, Putnam and Coventry) use CIGNA as an insurance provider.

EastConn will take care of administrative tasks for the coalition, according to the agenda. 

The coalition plan will become effective on July 1, 2012.