HARRISBURG – The Senate unanimously approved a resolution to review the pros and cons of merging school district health care plans, according to the bill’s sponsor Senator David G. Argall (R-29).
Sen. Argall notes this resolution is a key part of the continuing debate around school district property tax elimination.
“This vote today is another step in the right direction to save considerable tax dollars,” Argall said. “I’m hopeful the forthcoming information provided through this study will be part of our school property tax elimination efforts.”
Senate Resolution 250 tasks the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) with studying the cost of current health care plans and the cost of the current benefits over the next five years. The report will also examine the cost of regionalizing health care plans compared to one overall state plan for all school employees and provide the anticipated administrative, technological and staffing costs associated with implementing such reforms, including the impact of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“When I conducted a local survey with residents, school directors and business officials asking what they thought were the largest cost-drivers at the local level, one of the biggest concerns was rising health care costs that pose a serious threat to school budgets and the taxpayers,” Argall said.
Argall noted that the goal is not to harm current public school employees, but to pool resources together to get a better product at a lower cost.
The LBFC study will be due on November 30, 2014.