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Menino Reaches Deal On Health Insurance
Mayor Thomas Menino today announced a deal with Boston's public employee unions that could save the city about $1.5 million per month on health insurance costs, The Boston Globe reports, or up to $70 million over four years.
The deal, which still has to be approved by union members, has three key elements:
1. A 2.5 percent increase in the employee premium contribution, which will be phased in over a two-year period. This increase will apply to all active employees as well as to retirees who are enrolled in a non-Medicare health plan.
2. Plan design changes which will include: increasing pharmaceutical, office visit, and emergency room co-payments. The plan design changes also create a tiered office visit co-payment based upon whether the enrollee is utilizing the services of a primary care physician or a specialist.
3. A 1 percent increase in the retiree contribution to Medicare health plans that will go into effect at the end of the four-year period.
This program aired on April 14, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.