NSD could have saved $4 million in 2011

Just posted to the Board’s Negotiation Website is a presentation of health care insurance costs from the April 12th meeting along with some notes added to clarify the slides. There are a couple of rather startling numbers contained in this data, most notably:

* If the NFT had accepted the Board’s proposed insurance plan which included a 17% employee contribution and reduced opt-out benefit, the District would have realized a savings of just slightly under $4 million this year.

* The monthly contribution for each teacher under this plan would have ranged from $94 to $229.

At Tuesday’s Board meeting, Dr. Muenker is scheduled to present his proposed budget for next year. With millions of dollars in budget cuts looming, it will be difficult for the public to understand why the NFT leaders have refused to make the concessions necessary to keep Neshaminy’s public education financially viable. The union leaders may also have to explain to the younger teachers in the lower tiers why they had to lose thousands of dollars in raises over something as little as $94 a month.

Here is the update provided by the School Board:

Overview of Insurance Costs

During the April 12th public meeting, our insurance broker presented information regarding insurance costs for employee health care. Below is the unedited presentation from Mr. Gulla, and it is based on the information recently obtained from our insurance provider, International Blue Cross (IBC).

Before reading this presentation, please make note of the following:
* The plan noted on slides #3 and #4 (PC 15) is the current plan enjoyed by virtually all of our teachers
* The plan noted on slides #5 and #6 (PC 20/30/70) represents the Board’s proposed plan
* The plan noted on slides #7 and #8 (PC Customer 20/30/70) is an alternative plan suggested by IBC
* The first slide for each plan (slides 3, 5 and 7) are based on current costs, while the second slide for each plan (slides 4, 6 and 8) are based on our “first look” estimate on next year’s costs as provided by IBC
* The slide for each plan has five (5) columns representing:
* Tier (type of coverage)
*** # of Subscribers (current or retired teachers who have this coverage)
*** Board Cost (monthly cost of coverage at 100%, with no employee contribution)
*** 15% = 11.25% (What the monthly employee contribution would be at 15% if they were in the 25% income tax bracket, when you factor in the pre-tax value per IRS code)
*** 17% = 12.75% (What the monthly employee contribution would be at 17% if they were in the 25% income tax bracket, when you factor in the pre-tax value per IRS code)

* Not included in this presentation is the cost of the teacher opt-out benefit at 37%, which will total $1.34 million in 2011

* If the NFT had agreed to the Board’s proposal of 17% insurance premium contributions with the PC 20/30/70 plan along with a reduction in the opt-out benefit down to 25%, the District would have saved approximately $3.96 million this year

NSD Teacher Premiums and Contributions 4-12-11