Health insurance. The new bubble?

Star Tribune Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:23:40 GMT
St. Paul teachers examine health insurance options

A switch to Public Employees Insurance Program might mean cheaper insurance for the 3,600 union members. The St. Paul Federation of Teachers is exploring switching to the Public Employees Insurance Program to cover its health care insurance. Teachers, like many folks, are frustrated with rising costs and climbing premiums, said Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of the 3,600-member union. And there's a good chance that the public employees program could offer coverage for less. While quotes of what each member would pay for their current level of coverage are not yet available, numbers provided by the public employees group are "about 2 percent less," Ricker said. Ricker said that if the public employees group plan provides cheaper coverage, she could ask her executive board to put the issue to a vote, possibly by the end of the school year. She acknowledged that if the St. Paul teachers leave their district insurance pool for the Public Employees Insurance Program pool, other teachers unions across Minnesota could follow suit. "I'm determined to find a benefit for our members wherever I can get it," she said Monday before the meeting.

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