Janesville School Board to consider health insurance benefits

Feb. 13--JANESVILLE -- School district employees likely will pay more for health insurance, but how much more is up for debate.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, the board will consider two health insurance proposals.

The first proposal would require the district to pay 88 percent of the total cost of insurance per district employee. The second would require the district to pay 75 percent of the assumed 5 percent health insurance cost increase.

The decisions comes at a time when Gov. Scott Walker has proposed $649 million in new money for schools, but only if school districts require their employees to pay 12 percent of their health care costs.

Act 10, the 2011 law that stripped most public employee unions of their bargaining rights, required that teachers and other public union employees on the state health insurance plan pay at least 12 percent of the costs. The new proposal would require teachers and other public union employees to pay at least 12 percent of the health insurance costs, even if they aren't on state insurance.

Janesville district employees have been paying a smaller percentage, but they will reach the 12 percent mark during the 2017-2018 school year, Superintendent Karen Schulte told the Associated Press.

Here's what the two increases will mean for district employees and taxpayers:

Plan one: The district contributes 88 percent of the cost of health insurance per employee.

Rates would increase between $7 and $9 monthly for the least expensive plan, which covers the employee only.

Family plan rates would increase between $21 and $29 monthly for the most expensive plan.

Two other plans, employee/spouse and employee/child or children, would increase $13 and $24 a month, respectively.

The plan would cost the school district an estimated $10.6 million a year, or about $389,800 more than this year's plans.

Plan two: The district absorbs 75 of the expected 5 percent health insurance cost increase.

Rates would increase between $5 and $7 a month for the single employee plan and between $16 and $24 a month for a family plan.

The employee/spouse and employee/child or children plan would increase $10 and $17 a month, resepctively.

The plan would cost the district an estimated $10.63 million, or about $432,000 more than this year's plans.

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