Massena village trustees looking at change in health care plan for employees [Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.]

Sep. 29—MASSENA — Village trustees will be voting in October on changes to their health care plan for employees that they say will save both the village and individuals money.

Under the village's current plan, there are no individual or family deductibles. The village pays $3,025,454 in annual premiums for 119 employees.

Under an Excellus Bronze 4 PPO plan presented by Zachary Zuckerman, employees would see a $7,500 deductible for singles and $15,000 deductible for families, both of which would be covered by the village. The village would pay annual premiums of $1,738,641, a decrease of 42.5%, according to literature provided by Mr. Zuckerman, vice president of USI Insurance Services.

He said that during meetings, they discussed how to best use the roughly 42.5% savings.

"What we talked about in our meetings is what if we took that 43% savings and funded that deductible entirely for the employees. So we say, 'All right, we the village will assume the risk of the health of our employees and if they have to use this deductible, we will pay it. We will pay that deductible in its entirety — $7,500,'" he said.

Employees currently pay $15 for a primary care office visit, $25 for a specialist office visit, $25 for a walk-in/urgent care visit, $150 for an emergency room visit and $500 for an inpatient status at a hospital facility, among the co-pays. Under the proposed plan, they would have no co-pays after the deductible was met.

"Those will go to zero, will be paid in full," Mr. Zuckerman said.

He said that once authorized by employees, they will receive a direct deposit into their bank account, which can then be used to pay for the medical expense.

Mayor Gregory M. Paquin said current language in union contracts says they can move to another insurance plan as long as it's equal to or better than the current plan.

"Would you be comfortable in saying that the Bronze plan for an employee is actually better than our current plan?" he asked.

"It's 100% covered," Mr. Zuckerman said.

"So, now the employees and the retirees that are on it as well will not have any co-pays whatsoever. If they contribute a percentage rate, they're going to go down. As a matter of fact, I was talking to one of our employees who was on the family plan who contributes 8%. That person would save in the neighborhood of $1,500 per year not including no longer having deductibles," Mr. Paquin said.

Deputy Mayor Matthew J. LeBire said he liked the proposal.

"I like this type of approach. I think this is the way the village has to start looking at these types of expenses, creatively without impacting the employees," he said. "Yes, it's different. Yes, there will be the reimbursement aspect. Education is key. That's why we have folks like you involved with this. It's getting creative. It's giving the same level of benefit, just in a different way."

"It checks the boxes for me with three things," Mr. Paquin added. "First, it has to save the village money. It does. Second, it saves the employees money. It benefits them. It does. And the third thing is legally can we do this. We can with the contracts in my opinion. That's not to say that our unions are going to fully agree with us. I understand sometimes there's disagreements."

But, he said, in this case, he believes the unions would be supportive of the change.

"It's going to require a little bit of education for the employees," Trustee Francis J. Carvel said.

Mr. Paquin said if they pass a resolution in October to move to the new plan, he would like to set up meetings for members of the bargaining units and their families.

"You want the spouses there as well to understand how this works," he said.

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