Despite the absence of a Human Resources director, the town reached a “huge milestone” in its move toward joining the state Group Insurance Commission.
“We had to submit to the state all eligible employees for health insurance,” Town Administrator Patrice Garvin told the Select Board at its most recent meeting. “That’s not everybody; that’s currently on [health insurance]— it’s all eligible. There are about 1,000 employees, so we had to really scrub to make sure they were all there, and no duplicates.”
That included retirees, not all of whom have emails, she added.
“Last week, we were able to send that file to the state,” Garvin said. “That was a huge hurdle.”
According to mass.gov, the GIC provides and administers high-quality, affordable health insurance and other benefits to the state’s employees and retirees. Presently, Belmont is self-insured, meaning it provides its employees and retirees with health insurance through Harvard Pilgrim. The town’s Health Insurance Trust Fund helps cover the year-to-year fluctuation in costs.
The decision to switch from self-insured to the state-run health insurance program comes as health care costs rise nationwide, town officials have said.
According to Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, the town could see as much as 5% in savings in health care costs by joining the GIC. Of the 5% in savings to the town, 25% would be returned to the employees through the Public Employee Committee process.
Also by joining the GIC, employees are offered multiple plan options from major carriers, according to Garvin. They can remain on Harvard Pilgrim or switch to a carrier with cheaper premiums.
Education sessions for employees are underway, she said.
“That’s going to culminate with a benefits fair in early October, and then open enrollment starts with GIC on Oct. 5,” Garvin said. “So, we’re scrambling to make sure that all the employees have access to a way to get to the portal to pick a plan.”
Garvin said the amount of work to continue the process forward is “considerable,” but credited Town Treasurer Leslie Davidson for stepping taking over in the absence of Kelli King, who resigned as the director of human resources over the summer, as well as Human Resources Generalist Mitch Carolan.
“It’s really been a group effort to get that done, but there’s still more to come,” she said.
