[A] year-long legislative impasse over statewide teacher health care is beginning to come to resolution. The Senate Education Committee is sorting through plans from stakeholders to find a path forward.
Earlier this month, the Vermont teachers union proposed a single statewide health care benefit that features a new health care commission that would administer a statewide health benefit and cost sharing arrangement for all school employees.
Sen. Philip Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, who chairs the education committee, incorporated the Vermont NEA’s proposal into a bill. He started taking testimony on the legislation Wednesday.
“The NEA came out with what amounted to a proposal for statewide health care,” said Baruth. As he put it, the pitch was a “big move on their part.”
The House has been taking testimony on the proposal and that renewed interest spurred movement in the Senate, according to Baruth.
“So, the pro tem and I took notice,” he said.
The Vermont NEA plan would set up a 10-member commission with five public school employees and five labor representatives who would design and administer medical benefits. Three people on each team would have to agree on changes to benefits.
Jeff Fannon, executive director of the Vermont NEA, said he was happy with most of the language but there were tweaks he would want to see, including lowering the salary threshold for employees and retirees who would be eligible for premium and out-of-pocket cost subsidies.
The debate so far has been about shifting who pays what for premiums and out-of-pocket costs, but the union says there are changes that could reduce spending, according to Fannon. “We think the bill largely does that with a couple of tweaks,” he said.
The Vermont NEA also wants to eliminate the Vermont Education Health Initiative, a school employee insurance pool, because of the rocky rollout of new medical benefits this year. The union wants to replace it with a new commission.
Representatives from VEHI defended their program in testimony to lawmakers. Laura Soares, president of VEHI, said the organization has a proven track record. Nearly all school employees and their families have plans administered by VEHI.
The organization takes on “tremendous risk” because they are responsible for $250 million in premium payments from school districts and for paying all claims that come in no matter how far above that premium amount they go, according to Soares. “We are a trust, our goal is to take in money and pay out claims and do it as efficiently as possible,” she said.
David Van Deusen, a representative for some school support staff through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said his members were against the Vermont NEA proposal because it eliminated collective bargaining. His members want the opportunity to ratify decisions about their benefits.
“That is a core value of Vermonters and our union, the more working people get to raise their hand with a more direct say the better they are served. For us, that is more important than anything. We are in opposition [to the NEA plan] for that very reason,” Van Deusen said.
The committee also walked through a proposal from the Vermont School Board Association on a way to set up a statewide bargaining unit.
The chair began summing up the places where he saw agreement: keeping the Vermont Education Health Initiative but rebalancing the board, keeping the teacher’s union commission and adding a federation representative. Then constructing a statewide bargaining unit and adding a local ratification procedure.
“If we had that three-part structure it seems like it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for anybody,” Baruth said. “At least right now that is mildly hopeful.”
On Friday, Baruth has invited the Scott administration to his committee to find out what they are considering and what their red lines are on the issue.
“I want to show respect to the administration and have their input as quickly and as early as we can so we aren’t kidding ourselves that we are creating some consensus product they aren’t involved in,” he said.
Gov. Phil Scott’s team gave the Vermont NEA’s proposal a lukewarm response, chastising them for refusing to negotiate on a statewide teachers contract for health benefits. That intransigence, the governor’s office says, cost the state millions of dollars. A standoff with Scott ensued, which led to a veto session and ended with a clunky compromise.
The Scott administration won’t support a commission with equal representation between labor and management. Nevertheless, the governor’s office is willing to work with the unions to find a way forward.
For now, Baruth wants to better understand the universe of approaches and what elements of each all parties can agree to. “I want to find as much agreement among parties as possible and find a more effective and inexpensive means of bargaining these benefits,” he told his committee.
The senator hopes to start piecing something workable together by early next week.
