Mount Pleasant, South Shore Fire in Contract Talks for Health Insurance

and South Shore Fire are in talks about re-opening the department's contract to address the health insurance provision.

Because the agreement allowed for health insurance negotiation after Act 32 was signed into law, that part of the contract may be illegal.

In a nutshell, Act 32 says health insurance is no longer a benefit that can be negotiated in collective bargaining agreements with protective service public employee unions. But, , language included provisions for health insurance.

According to Village President Carolyn Milkie, the village labor attorney’s opinion is that the contract needs to be reopened to deal with this provision.

“We are acting on the advice of our attorney to get the health insurance part of the contract addressed appropriately,” she said.

But William Miller, South Shore union president, says the law is written so that municipalities have the choice on whether or not to use Act 32 during contract negotiations. Since , firefighters don’t have to reopen the contract.

“The health insurance part of the contract is a delicate issue,” he acknowledged. “But because the village did not elect to change the insurance plan in October 2011 and signed the contract, we are not under any obligation to reopen the contract.”

Still, he acknowledged that members will most likely “step up” because doing so is tied to allowing the village to opt out of the state health insurance plan and that’s not a bad idea.

“We actually presented this idea to the board a couple of years ago because it can be a cost savings to shop around for insurance,” he said. “So yeah, we will probably step up, but in return we want stability since that’s what we gave the board last year with that two-year contract. We don't want them coming back to us in another 10 months asking for more help.”

Making healthcare costs work

With budget meetings right around the corner, Mount Pleasant trustees are looking to curb the cost of health care for all village employees.

At the Village Board meeting Monday, trustees are expected to approve a resolution so the village can withdraw from the state health insurance plan. Doing so allows the village to shop around for insurance plans for both represented and non-represented employees.

According to Village Clerk Veronica Rudychev, the opt-out could save up to 10 percent for premium costs over the state plan.

“This way, we can shop around for better plans and better prices,” she said. “The potential savings in 2013 could be about $270,000.”

The resolution is a first step that puts the state on notice of the village’s intent, but Mount Pleasant has until the end of the year to make a final decision.

“We can choose to stay on the plan we’re on, pick a different option within the state’s plan, or get a new plan through a private insurer,” Rudychev explained.

In order to completely withdraw from the state’s plan, though, South Shore would have to re-open their contract because being part of the state insurance plan is an all-or-nothing proposition.

“Yeah, we can’t split up,” she confirmed. “We have to be all in or all out, but South Shore seems open to the discussions. We believe we're moving forward because we can get a plan comparable to what we have now.”