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    Muncipal Insurance

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    rkarlin
    1) The Governor seeks to reduce rising healthcare costs for municipalities by expanding access to healthcare consortia programs, though legislation already exists to allow municipalities to join existing county self-insured health plans. 2) The Municipal Health Insurance Savings Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Steck, would allow cities, towns, villages, and other local governments to join existing county self-insured health plans to reduce costs. 3) Studies have shown the legislation could save taxpayers in Albany and Schenectady counties over $4 million annually by allowing local governments to pool risks and costs through the existing county health plans.

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    Muncipal Insurance

    Uploaded by

    rkarlin
    941 views2 pages
    1) The Governor seeks to reduce rising healthcare costs for municipalities by expanding access to healthcare consortia programs, though legislation already exists to allow municipalities to join existing county self-insured health plans. 2) The Municipal Health Insurance Savings Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Steck, would allow cities, towns, villages, and other local governments to join existing county self-insured health plans to reduce costs. 3) Studies have shown the legislation could save taxpayers in Albany and Schenectady counties over $4 million annually by allowing local governments to pool risks and costs through the existing county health plans.

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    Steck plan for counties

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    1) The Governor seeks to reduce rising healthcare costs for municipalities by expanding access to healthcare consortia programs, though legislation already exists to allow municipalities to join existing county self-insured health plans. 2) The Municipal Health Insurance Savings Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Steck, would allow cities, towns, villages, and other local governments to join existing county self-insured health plans to reduce costs. 3) Studies have shown the legislation could save taxpayers in Albany and Schenectady counties over $4 million annually by allowing local governments to pool risks and costs through the existing county health plans.

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    941 views2 pages

    Muncipal Insurance

    Uploaded by

    rkarlin
    1) The Governor seeks to reduce rising healthcare costs for municipalities by expanding access to healthcare consortia programs, though legislation already exists to allow municipalities to join existing county self-insured health plans. 2) The Municipal Health Insurance Savings Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Phil Steck, would allow cities, towns, villages, and other local governments to join existing county self-insured health plans to reduce costs. 3) Studies have shown the legislation could save taxpayers in Albany and Schenectady counties over $4 million annually by allowing local governments to pool risks and costs through the existing county health plans.

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    For Immediate Release: Contact: Phil Steck

    January 2, 2018 518-455-5931

    Governor Seeks Solution to Municipal Healthcare


    Costs; Solution Already Available.
    Solution Could Save Albany and Schenectady Taxpayers $4 million Annually

    For years, local governments have been stretched thin maintaining services while dealing
    with dramatically rising health insurance costs. In response, the Governor announced yesterday
    that he directed the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to come up with a solution to lessen
    the regulatory hurdles of the healthcare consortia program which allows multiple municipalities
    or counties and school districts to jointly purchase employee health coverage. Though this may
    be helpful to areas of our state where there is not a self-insured county, there are over 20 counties
    that are currently self-insured. Legislation already exists that permits municipalities to join
    County self-inured health plans, thus eliminating the need for their utilization of the costly and
    burdensome healthcare consortia program.

    In 2014, local government officials within the 110th Assembly District met with
    Assemblymember Phil Steck (D-Colonie) to discuss options that would allow smaller
    municipalities, where healthcare costs can represent 20% of their annual budgets, to save money
    by consolidating their healthcare with a self-insured county. The Municipal Health Insurance
    Savings Act originated from these meetings.

    Since 2014, Steck has sponsored this legislation (A. 2578) that allows cities, towns,
    villages, school districts, and public authorities to join county self-insured health plans to reduce
    costs. This bill would bring more members into a county’s self-insured plan, spreading the risk
    across a wider number of employees, and reducing costs accordingly. The Municipal Health
    Insurance Savings Act has bipartisan support with 34 sponsors in the Assembly and is sponsored
    in the Senate (S.3660) by Senator Joe Griffo (R-Rome). This legislation also has the support of
    the New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM), the New York State Association of Towns
    (NYSAOT), the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), and the Civil Service
    Employees Association (CSEA).

    “County self-insured health plans provide the widest array of benefits at the lowest cost.
    By joining these plans, localities of all sizes will be able to spread risk, save money, and keep
    within the tax cap,” said Assemblymember Steck. “Consolidation is said to be at the top of the
    Governor’s agenda. This legislation is the best opportunity available for counties and local
    municipalities to do exactly that; yet the status quo dies hard.”
    “This legislation has the potential to reduce local health insurance costs, one of the
    largest and fastest rising components of every city and village budget in this state,” said Peter
    Baynes, Executive Director, NYCOM. “Removing barriers to form efficient inter-municipal
    partnerships, such as this bill seeks to do, should be encouraged. The Conference of Mayors,
    therefore, strongly supports this pro-taxpayer legislation and urges its approval.”

    The financial opportunity this legislation presents is undeniable. Both Albany and
    Schenectady Counties are self-insured for their employee's healthcare and both put healthcare in
    the consolidation plans they submitted to New York State.

    Albany County's purposefully conservative estimate for local municipalities savings on


    healthcare costs (consolidating under the umbrella of the county self-funded plan) would initially
    be $1.5 million, and at full implementation $3 million annually each year going forward.
    Schenectady County states that once fully implemented, the savings will be $766,000 going
    forward annually. Additional savings may also be rendered because the insurance risk would be
    spread across a much larger pool of insureds, and there are no costly legal hurdles to implement.

    “This bill remains a top priority for our members, and is a most important piece of
    mandate relief legislation,” said Stephen J. Acquario, Executive Director, NYSAC. “The state
    has asked local governments to share more services. We’d like the state to reform archaic and
    unnecessary barriers that prevent municipalities from working together to benefit taxpayers.”

    Steck concluded: “The County self-insured plans already exist and have met all
    necessary approvals. Why reinvent the wheel? This legislation eliminates the time, expense and
    legal action required when creating a consortium when there is already a self-insured plan
    available.”

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