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February 7, 2011

Mayors make plea for health insurance reform

To the Editor:

As has been well reported, health care costs for municipal employees are growing at an unsustainable rate. Finding ways to curb this dramatic growth is absolutely essential to maintaining basic city services. The annual increase in municipal health care costs is robbing money from our schools, public safety efforts, public works projects and other important programs.

Local leaders have been clamoring for municipal health insurance reform for many years as a way to help manage budgets during these fiscally challenging times. With that in mind, we are writing to express our support for legislation proposed by the governor entitled, "An Act Further Strengthening the Commonwealth's Partnership with its Municipalities," which aims to provide material and immediate savings to communities facing soaring health insurance costs.

This proposal will require that municipalities and its unions engage in expedited negotiations to establish new health insurance coverage, either by joining the Group Insurance Commission (GIC) or adopting local plans with benefits comparable to those provided by the GIC. If the parties can not reach agreement within the expedited negotiation period, the municipality will have the right, without a union veto, to either join the GIC or adopt the lower-cost plans. This represents a multi-million dollar savings to municipalities, helping many communities to avert an out-and-out budget crisis. And a switch to the GIC will provide local employees with some of the top-rated commercial plans in the nation with benefits that are at least as generous as those provided to more than 300,000 state and municipal employees and their families. By any measure, employees will continue to receive quality health care at a reasonable price.

For far too long, municipalities in Massachusetts have been denied authority to manage and moderate rising health insurance costs. While we have been able to work with our collective bargaining unions on a host of issues, solving the problem of rising employee health care costs has been much more elusive. Now more than ever, providing mayors and managers this vital tool is critical to balancing local budgets as we struggle to absorb even further reductions in local aid. Although additional work will be required of the administration to finalize the regulations, in order to implement the necessary savings by the start of the next fiscal year, it is imperative that the Legislature act swiftly to adopt the proposed measure now. We urge legislators to make municipal health insurance reform their highest priority and quickly approve this measure so that savings can be achieved in fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1.

After several years of mulling over this issue, we need this bill passed so that we can continue providing municipal services at the quality our residents have come to expect, but with the cost-savings and efficiencies that taxpayers demand.

Thatcher Kezer III, mayor of Amesbury; Jay Ash, city manager of Chelsea; Tom Ambrosino, mayor of Revere; Carolyn Kirk, mayor of Gloucester; Andrew Bisignani, town manager of Saugus; Scott Lang, mayor of New Bedford; Michael Bonfanti, mayor of Peabody; Bernard Lynch, city manager of Lowell; Joseph Curtatone, mayor of Somerville; William Manzi, mayor of Methuen; Rob Dolan, mayor of Melrose; Wayne Marquis, town manager of Danvers; Kim Driscoll, mayor of Salem; Andrew Maylor, town administrator of Swampscott; Clare Higgins, mayor of Northampton; William Scanlon, mayor of Beverly; and Richard Howard, mayor of Malden

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  • Our view: Museum, college go above and beyond

    There are many intangible benefits to be had from the existence of nonprofit institutions like Peabody Essex Museum and Endicott College in our midst.
    Indeed, the recent growth of both — the former in downtown Salem and the later along Beverly's Gold Coast — represent remarkable success stories that have added immeasurably to the quality of life in their respective communities, as well as on the North Shore.

    Posted 10 hours ago
  • It is imperative to back marijuana ordinance

    The Newburyport public school nurses are asking city councilors to vote in support of the new marijuana ordinance introduced by City Councilor Brian Derrivan. District nurses are concerned about the health and safety of our community residents and especially our youth. The new Massachusetts law decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, but it is still illegal. Unfortunately, our students have misinterpreted this law and think that marijuana is now legal. Many students also seem to think that using marijuana is "no big deal" and "safe." In truth, there are health and safety risks to using marijuana:

    Posted 10 hours ago
  • BOAT CAMP Bash raises $20,000

    To the editor:
    We wish to thank all who came together in support of BOAT CAMP's nature education programs at our second annual BOAT CAMP Bash, held at the Black Cow Tap and Grill earlier this month. Together, we raised $20K. This included a joyful, spontaneous in-kind gift of a small Boston Whaler skiff, which will be put to great use with kids this summer.

    Posted 10 hours ago
  • Scholarship in need of funding

    To the editor:
    Do you have a teacher whom you remember fondly? Someone who made you feel special or saw something in you that maybe you didn't even realize existed?
    Last November, at the world-renowned Addison Gallery of American Art, Ellen Burke Hart was recognized for her 36 years of dedicated service to arts education. Ellen worked in the Pentucket Regional School District as a visual arts teacher and eventually its arts curriculum coordinator.

    Posted 10 hours ago
  • Ron Paul has some interesting ideas

    To the editor:
    The presidential candidacy of Ron Paul is interesting. His call for a return to the gold standard and the end of foreign aid and closing overseas bases should be appealing to young people who don't want to fight in the military. From the days of the U.S. revolution against England through all the wars, debt and depreciating currency value have been a reality. While the wars we fought opened up investment opportunities overseas, threats to regimes where those investments were made required a combination of foreign aid and sometimes military action. We fought hard to establish those overseas bases, and it is an essential part of our global empire. The proposed copper-gold mine in Alaska at a huge fish-spawning area shows the conflict between economic development and conservation of our natural resources. I really wonder how Ron Paul's proposals would work out if they ever got tried out. Of all the Republican primary candidates, Ron Paul seems to be the only one with any substantial ideas.

    Posted 10 hours ago
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