School District Considering Insurance Change

By Tanjua Damon

The Newtown Board of Education announced Tuesday night that they are “seriously considering” changing their insurance carrier from a self insured plan to Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Superintendent John R. Reed proposed the change to the school board at its business meeting September 5. He brought more information back to the group Tuesday night, when the board resolved unanimously to consider the change.

There is still a lot of research to be done before the board makes a final decision on the matter. The board hopes to vote on the issue in October, but it has to send the details to the district unions to study and determine if Blue Cross Blue Shield would be comparable to the self-insured plan already offered, according to Dr Reed.

“We haven’t accepted this. We will give it serious consideration,” Dr Reed said. “Barring any information that pops up that would prevent us from doing this, we should go ahead and begin dialogue with the staff.”

Dr Reed said that the district has had 18 good years of insuring itself, but the last two years have not been cost effective. The decision would be an economic one for the district.

“We think it will help us with a slightly conservative growth over our medical costs. It’s a dollar and cents issue,” Dr Reed said. “The first 18 years went rather well. The last two years we haven’t been able to keep a reserve fund.”

If the decision is made to change, the district would have to pay an estimated $466,000 in runout costs for the self insured plan. Although the district believes it can handle the costs, the expense is still a major consideration.

“That would be offset by a variety of things. The runout cost was a concern,” Dr Reed said. “We believe we can within the components of the current plan accommodate this runout plan.”

“We’re trying to find out from the Blues about what they can do for us,” Dr Reed said. “I don’t think we should do this as a reaction to two bad years. We are considering having an organization that can go to the medical community and get the best deal for the community.”

If the school board votes to accept the change, Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage would take effect on December 1.

The dental policy offered to the staff would not fall under the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan. It would remain under a self-insured program.