County school employees have health plans to envy

Most Franklin County school employees pay less for health care than the average American -- and other people working in public and private schools, at universities and in other education jobs across the country.

Teachers unions say schools have offered better health-care plans to make up for minimal cost-of-living raises and lower salaries compared with other professions that require additional education.

But some taxpayers -- especially those faced with levy requests in November -- say the generous health-care plans are a bitter pill to swallow when districts are complaining about bleeding budgets.

"You don't see the sacrifices coming out from them," said Terry Jones, head of the anti-levy group South-Western Alternatives to Taxes.

The South-Western district has been a flash point for concerns about employee compensation because of budget cuts and repeated requests of voters to raise their taxes. Jones has continually criticized the school board for what he sees as excessive employee benefits.

Bill Leibensperger, vice president of the Ohio Education Association, argues that it's unfair to single out health-care plans from a total compensation package. Contract negotiations often involve trade-offs such as higher benefits in exchange for salary concessions.

"School employees have taken wage freezes to keep health-insurance benefits," he said. (School wage freezes typically apply to base salaries, but most employees still receive step increases that are based on experience or education.)

Public employees, including those in schools, typically have richer health plans and contribute less to their premiums than private-sector workers, said Chris Heiberger, treasurer of the Columbus chapter of the National Association of Health Underwriters.

Ohio school employees typically enjoy more-expensive plans than the average American, but they pay less of their health-insurance costs.

Surveys this year by the School Employee Health Care Board and United Benefit Advisors detail the average costs and contributions:

' For singles: School plans cost $426 a month, and employees typically pay about 10 percent of the premium. The average American's plan costs $388, with employees paying 21 percent of that.

' For families: School plans cost $1,004 a month, and employees typically pay 10 percent. The U.S. average is $944, with employees contributing 41 percent.

Unlike many private employers, most public schools are unionized, so any changes to premium contributions, deductibles and co-pays are subject to collective bargaining. It's not always an easy subject to negotiate.

Disputes over health-care contributions led to strikes at Franklin County Children Services in 2005 and the county's Child Support Enforcement Agency in 2006.

Guidelines have been developed for school districts to lower health-care costs and boost wellness among staff members. The School Employee Health Care board established best practices that, starting next year, will require districts to phase into employee contracts.

To hold down costs, several school districts have become self-insured, and a handful of them -- Dublin, Grandview Heights, Upper Arlington, Westerville and Worthington -- have moved to high-deductible plans with health savings accounts. In these, employees accept larger upfront, out-of-pocket costs in exchange for lower monthly premiums.

Deductibles for Franklin County school employees in those plans range from $1,100 to $2,000 for single coverage and $2,200 to $4,000 for family coverage. But employees don't bear the cost alone; districts contribute a share -- at least half.

South-Western pays $1,200 to employees who opt out of the district's health-care plan, saving the district about $800,000 a year.

But critics say that's not enough.

After analyzing South-Western's finances, resident Cindy Legue said the district could save about $3.5 million if staff members on the single plan contributed 35 percent to health care, the same as those on the family plan. That would be enough money to reinstate athletics and other extracurricular programs without fees, she said.

Currently, South-Western pays the entire premium (as much as $548 per person a month) for 1,415 employees with single coverage. The district contributes 65 percent of the premium for 654 employees on the family plan -- about $962 per person a month.

Officials don't dispute the claim. But South-Western Treasurer Hugh Garside said about 800 employees with single-plan coverage are eligible to switch to family coverage, and more might do that if the costs change.

"It's cheaper (for the district) to provide a single plan than a family plan," Garside said. "It has, overall, kept our health-care costs down."