Joint Boards Report
TOWN BOARDS GATHER TO EXAMINE TOWN EMPLOYEE  HEALTH INSURANCE

Competitiveness, Operation, Sustainability and Options

       A joint boards meeting of the Select board, School Committee, Finance committee, along with the members of the town’s health insurance trust convened last Monday to review and consider a report on the status of the town employee health insurance program.  Consultant Pat Harridan of Lockton Associates gave the report to well attended gathering at the Millenium School.  His report was comprehensive, lasting about thirty minutes.  He offered assessments on the competitiveness of the program and it’s operation and sustainability. He closed by reviewing possible options for modifying the program to save costs.       

The Health Insurance program offered by the town of Westford is highly competitive. It’s premiums are comparatively low, it offers great features; such as, wellness benefits.  A survey of town employees indicates that there is high satisfaction with the program.         

The town of Westford self-insures its employee health care services, through the Westford Health Insurance Trust (HIT). The plan is fully compliant with the requirements imposed by the Affordable Care Act and Mass Health. Claims have been running lower than premiums.  Its ratio of assets to liabilities is 3:1 making it one of the more solvent municipal programs within the Commonwealth.  Harridan notes that the town was particularly effective in negotiating rates with both medical service providers and pharmaceutical firms.   Discussion revealed that many of the town’s employees live in New Hampshire. The HIT provides for coverage of out of state employees, many other plans do not.        

Harridan delved into the issue of potential risks to the program.  He emphasized that being self-insured meant that the town is on the hook for all claims.  Claims have been particularly manageable in recent years, but he offered some concerns about the future.  The first concern was inflation, which is perhaps the most immediate threat to the solvency of the HIT.  Legislative action by either Congress or the state legislature came second.  He warned that any legislative changes to health insurance would more likely than not would increase costs.  He pointed to the 35% cap on Insulin prices, instituted in the waning days of the ill-fated Biden administration. Harridan warned that those costs were ultimately passed along in premium increases to consumers.         

A very informative overview of the health care industry both nationally and in Massachusetts was provided.   Harridan reported that while health insurance costs are beginning to stabilize, the trend is upward.  The percentage of cost increases are in the high single to low double digits in recent years.  He reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the leading insurance company in Massachusetts, lost 300M dollars last year.  Access to primary care physicians has also been significantly restricted.         

Town officials received very detailed recommendations about insurance plan design. Harridan warned that premiums are critical.  If premiums are too high, there will be low participation in the program, consequently, claims can’t be supported.  If the claims are too low, program participation will increase, causing claims to go up as well.  He said that offering insurance involves risk and that employee behavior is a critical factor in assessing that risk.  Research shows that premiums drive participation, not benefits, and the more a program requires employees to increase their skin in the game, the more responsible will be their behavior.              

The presentation concluded with a comparison of options to explore. None were particularly attractive.   Harridan reviewed Joint Purchasing Groups (JPG) such as the West Suburban Insurance network.  These programs are in distress, because they had set premiums too low and were overwhelmed by claims. The situation was similar with the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), the largest provider of health insurance to municipal employees.  Both the JPG’s and MIIA charge “buy-in” fees and can reject group applications without cause.  The program offered by the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) was also reviewed. This plan covers all state employees, including the legislature.  It has been extended to 66 of the poorest communities in Massachusetts to cover their public employee health insurance.  GIC is a fully subsidized program.  The town cannot be denied entry into the program. However, its premiums do not cover claims and there is no predictability for its fee.  In FY25 state taxpayers had to bail out the program to the tune of 240M.  This year the bailout was 300M.  Admission procedures are very rigid and once you are in the program it is hard to get out. The enticing feature of GIC is that it can potentially offer a bottom line savings to the town of 2.2M.           

Joint board meetings are part of a genuine commitment by town officials to examine town employee health insurance as part of a wider effort to identify cost savings for the town.  Harridan warned that changes in cost savings inevitably involve increasing costs to members either in premiums or in co-pays.  He cautioned that this can lead to both interruptions in coverage and friction between the town and its employees.  There were no changes to the program at this meeting, this examination is expected to continue.

Op Ed
PLANNED DEVELOPMENT ON GROTON ROAD THREATENS HOMEOWNERS

Does The Planning Board Intend to Economically Cleansing Westford

         Once again, Groton Road is under siege, and I wanted to make sure that you’re aware of it. Like many town government activities, unless you’re paying attention all the time, these things fall under the radar. The Town of Westford has hired a consultant to do a study on Rt. 40 to determine how it can best be “utilized” in the future.  What was once simply Groton Road,  is now being referred to as the “Route 40 Corridor. I sense a “done deal” ,that will involve  zoning changes along Groton Road to draw in industry and allow for denser housing, despite the fact that most of this area enjoys a broad tree canopy and many single-family home lots.         

I realize I’m late to the game on this one, and shame on me, when it’s my street, but the Town has set its sights on it. While many work hard for this Town, I question the true motivations behind the Rt 40 study. If you happened to have taken a recent survey sponsored by the town, you’ll see that it forces you to disclose a preferences, even if you prefer absolutely none of the options.        

If the Town can begin to rezone Rt 40, where a significant majority of the properties are single-family homes with large lots, where will they stop?    Is Rt. 225 next on their list?  Will there be nothing left here but cul-de-sacs of multi-million dollar homes ?  Is this initiative really solving the lack of housing issue and would it not raise further burdens on our schools and other town infrastructure?    What about the Town’s responsibility to the people, who currently own homes here? I moved to Westford to be in a community with open space, nature, and mature trees. I feel that those of us who share a love for that old Westford are being left behind.

GENERAL TOWN BUSINESS UPDATE

Submitted By Jocelyn (Bishop) Lambrecht

Following the May 11^th  Joint Boards meeting, the Select Board reorganized.  Chris Barret was voted in as the new chair, Sean Kelly is the Vice Chair and Noelle Donovan has assumed the role of clerk of the Board.   On that same evening the Finance Committee unanimously voted to transfer 398K from the town’s compensation reserve to the Fire Department to pay for the contract settlement with the firefighter’s unions.   The FINCOM also transferred 70K from their own reserve account to the schools to pay for snow and ice expenses.  The Finance Committee’s reserve balance is now down to 30K, but will be replenished in July, when the new fiscal year opens.