Bill aims to force schools to use state insurance

SEATTLE — A proposal to force teachers and other school employees to buy their health insurance through the state system is one senator’s attempt to help save Washington school districts some money. But the state teachers union says the idea isn’t likely to save anyone anything.

Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Bellingham, said school administrators in his district have told him that his idea would save them thousands of dollars a year.

“It’s the same plan the governor of Washington is on. We have a very good health care plan,” Brandland said. “I’m not trying to sell something that I’m not part of.”

The senator believes the proposal also would save the state money because putting more people in the state health care authority could result in lower costs for everyone.

A spokesman for the state teachers union disagrees.

Several studies have been done on other proposals to move school employees into the state health insurance pool and each found the insurance consolidation didn’t save anyone money, said Rich Wood of the Washington Education Association.

A 2004 study by the Washington Office of Financial Management found school districts might save money by moving their employees into the state insurance system but any savings would be offset by the cost and difficulty of making the switch.

The study found the only benefits of moving school employees into the plan would be standardization of benefits and data collection and the cost benefit to the other participants in the state plan, because the state could negotiate lower rates with more members.

Teachers and other school employees currently negotiate with their district about health insurance and when they are given options, the state plan is often among the choices.

In many cases, it would cost teachers more to buy into the state plan than to use their other options, Wood said Thursday.

Brandland acknowledged that individual teachers might pay more but said he believes the idea would make health insurance less expensive for families, because the state plan more heavily subsidizes family premiums.

“From our perspective, there are other more important issues in terms of school funding and finding ways to mitigate the cuts to education,” Wood said. “We just don’t think this is any kind of solution.”

Neither Wood nor the senator could say whether Brandland’s proposal was going anywhere in the Legislature — it passed the Senate as a bill calling for a study of the idea and has been sitting in the House Ways and Means Committee since March 11.

Brandland said he was hoping the bill might evolve into more than a study before the Legislature adjourns. He expects a hearing closer to the end of the session.

All the cost savings information Brandland has gathered is anecdotal. For instance, the Bellingham School District uses hundreds of thousands of levy dollars annually to supplement the district’s state allocation for employee health insurance, he said.

Neither Brandland nor Wood could offer a figure for total statewide costs for school employee health insurance, because the information is not reported by the school districts to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.