Janesville School District health insurance premiums will rise

Feb. 15--JANESVILLE -- Janesville School District employees will see their health insurance premiums increase by 11 percent to 14 percent starting in the 2017-18 school year.

The school district will also contribute $575,636 more for insurance than it did last year. That amount represents a 5 percent increase for the district.

At its Tuesday meeting, the school board voted 7-1 in favor of the plan. Board member Jim Millard voted "no," and Greg Ardrey was absent.

Millard said his "no" vote was partly practical and partly philosophical.

On the practical side, he didn't want employees to pay more for their health insurance.

On the philosophical side, he was responding to Gov. Scott Walker's proposal requiring school district employees to pay at least 12 percent of their health insurance costs. If employees paid less than 12 percent, the school district would lose funding.

The board voted down a proposal to investigate a high-deductible/health savings account insurance plan.

A health savings account provides a way for people on high-deductible insurance plans to cover their costs.

For example, a person with a $5,000 deductible might be given $1,500 to place in a health savings account. The person can decide how he or she wants to use that money. If he money is not used one year, it can be carried over to the next. Such programs are often popular with younger, healthier people who don't anticipate becoming seriously ill.

Board member Bill Sodemann thought such accounts with their high deductibles would be a good addition to the district's lineup of health care plans.

It would give people another choice, he said.

Other board members objected to offering high-deductible plans, saying that people who have them tend not to see doctors when they need to, and as a result their medical costs go up.

Sodemann said he didn't see a problem with giving people choices.

In an interview after the meeting, board member Steve Huth said such programs present a challenge because they change the way contracts are negotiated with health care providers.

People with high-deductible insurance plans use health care services at a lower rate, generating less revenue, Huth said.

Health care providers take that into consideration when negotiating insurance costs, Huth said.

The district's health care consultant, Associated Financial Group of Madison, also told the board's benefits committee that implementing such a plan would require a lot of education for staff.

Despite the board's vote, Huth said he expects that consultant David Kracht will continue to research all health insurance options for the district, which is what he was hired to do.

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