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.