LEWISTON – City employees face having to pay more for health insurance or agreeing to exercise, lose weight and quit smoking under a new health-care plan.
Employee-paid health insurance premiums increase up to $55 per week under the plan, which began on July 1. The city has been negotiating with labor unions to have it accepted.
“We know there are some that are opposed to this, and they will end up paying more,” said Denis Jean, human resources director.
Councilors ratified the fourth of five outstanding union deals with employees Tuesday, voting 7-0 to accept a contract with the public works employees.
All four contracts include the new health-care plan, Jean said. Only a contract with firefighters is still being negotiated, he said.
Under the plan, employees pay more of their health insurance premiums, from 10 percent to 25 percent. For example, the premium for a family would increase from $21.96 per week to about $76 per week.
But employees could get that money back if they meet some fitness and health goals. Spouses are part of the deal as well, and must agree to meet the goals to get the full 15 percent discount.
Everything breaks loose’
“Like it or not, there is a proven link between health issues and smoking and exercise,” Jean said. “It doesn’t show up right away, but when you get to 40 years old everything breaks loose and you start having all of these cardiovascular issues.”
For the first few months, employees don’t have to do anything to buy back the premium increase but agree to participate. The city will begin scheduling medical exams for insured employees and their spouses beginning in October. The city will use that exam to figure out the next goals for each person insured. Those people need to meet those goals beginning July 2006. Otherwise, they pay the increased premium.
There are four goals, and each one represents a percentage savings on the monthly premium. Agreeing to a health-risk assessments with a personal doctor nets a 6 percent premium discount. Participating in an exercise program nets another 6 percent discount.
Non-smokers and people who quit smoking qualify for a 4 percent discount, and people who lose weight get a further 4 percent discount.
The biggest discount any employee can get is 15 percent, Jean said.
City pays $3.4M annually
“The way it’s set up, the employee or spouse can still smoke and they’ll still get 15 percent, as long as they do everything else,” Jean said. “Changes are difficult, and we recognize that. We’re not expecting them to change their behavior overnight.”
Jean said he hasn’t had any complaints about the new plan from employees.
“The unions were difficult to convince initially,” Jean said. “But I think that’s because it’s new. Eventually, when they learned what it means for the city, they were convinced.”
Jean said the changes are designed to keep the city health insurance costs in check. The city spends about $3.4 million annually.
“And if we can keep that from increasing next year, we’ll be running up and down the hallways celebrating,” he said. “We’ve seen in the double-digit increases in the rates, and there has to be a way to slow that down.”
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