Teacher health insurance legislation advances [Lewiston Tribune, Idaho]

Feb. 1—BOISE — Legislation designed to reduce health insurance costs for teachers and other school employees earned the enthusiastic support of the Senate Education Committee on Monday.

House Bill 443 is one component of a three-part plan to boost state funding for K-12 health insurance costs and give districts an option to join the state's self-funded health coverage pool.

"The motivation for this is to make our schools more competitive in recruiting and retaining teachers and support staff," said Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle.

Taken together, the plan could boost monthly take-home pay for school employees by hundreds of dollars.

"My wife is currently a special ed teacher," said Sen. Robert Blair, a Kendrick-area farmer who is substituting this session for Lewiston mayor, Sen. Dan Johnson. "Before that, she was classified staff. Bringing home a check at the end of the month for $4 wasn't very helpful. She was literally working for insurance for a farmer. This (bill) is true help, especially for those rural districts."

The Idaho Education Association, Idaho School Boards Association, Idaho Association of School Superintendents and Idaho Charter School Network all testified in support of the legislation.

Woodward said that Part 1 of the plan is to boost ongoing state funding for school health insurance by $105 million per year. Districts will be able to use that money to negotiate better deals from their private insurance carriers, or to help pay for the state plan.

Part two is a one-time $75.5 million appropriation to help districts buy in to the state insurance pool. The money will ensure that the state plan maintains an adequate financial reserve.

The reserve account "is a percent of expected claims and administrative costs," Woodward said. "With more people on the state plan, we can expect more claims, so we have to have a larger amount in reserve."

Districts will have two years to opt in to the state plan, he said. Any money left over after that will flow into the public school rainy day account or to the general fund.

HB 443 is the third component of the plan, Woodward said. It doesn't appropriate any money itself, but does establish an account to hold the $75.5 million, should the Legislature chooses to approve that expenditure.

The bill also eliminates the teacher leadership premium program. That will save about $20 million per year and help reduce the overall cost of this proposal.

Layne McInelly, president of the Idaho Education Association, said teachers across Idaho are watching HB 443 with great anticipation.

"It represents the hope that Idaho's policy makers recognize and value their work," he said. "In my mind, it's a moral imperative that ensures the future of public education in Idaho."

The bill previously passed the House 56-14 and now heads to the Senate for further action. Gov. Brad Little offered the legislation his full support.

Spence may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 791-9168.

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