The Town of Natick, like all businesses and industries, has experienced large increases in health insurance costs over the last decade. Since FY 2000, the cost of employee benefits has grown from $4,893,028 to $12,964,453 in FY 2009 - an increase of 265%; this dramatic increase is driven almost entirely by the increase in health insurance. By way of comparison, during that same time period, the overall Town budget has grown 51.8%. To see greater detail regarding the impact of rising health insurance costs and other trends in Natick's finances, click here.
This pattern is not sustainable. These cost increases represent one of the most alarming and unsustainable financial trends that the Town of Natick is facing, and a trend that must be addressed if the Town is to maintain current levels of employees and services.
For the last year the administration has been evaluating various responses to this challenge while still ensuring the employees' access to excellent health care options. To that end administration has identified five different approaches, briefly described as follows:
- Join the state Group Insurance Commission (GIC)
- Offer only the so-called Rate Saver Plans
- Keep the existing plans but change the Town/Employee contribution rates
- Join a different health insurance collaborative
- Separate from the West Suburban Health Group insurance collaborative and bid our insurance as a sole community.
These options will continue to be explored and evaluated with policymakers, financial officials and employees to determine which would be the best fit for the Town of Natick and its employees. Be assured that the Town recognizes its collective bargaining obligations in this regard.
In an effort to ensure that employees are kept current on this effort and to facilitate informed discussion, we have created this website so that all employees can learn about the options, plans, and opportunities we all have to lower our collective costs and create a more sustainable benefits plan for the Town of Natick. This website provides further information about each of the five options via links to separate web pages, interactive videos regarding the options, as well as external links to allow you to do your own cost comparisons. We will be updating the web site frequently so please keep checking back.
It is imperative that we all work together to understand this complex issue to ensure the good health and well being of our employees and their families while achieving savings to benefit all of the Town now and for years to come.
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