Apr. 17—MANCHESTER
City employees hit with 10% health insurance hike —A3
City employees in Manchester will see an increase of 10% in health insurance costs as of July 1, following a vote this week by aldermen to raise rates.
The vote to approve the rate hike was 8-6, with aldermen Chris Morgan, Dan Goonan, Crissy Kantor, Ross Terrio, Ed Sapienza, Norm Vincent, Kelly Thomas and Joe Kelly Levasseur in favor. Opposed were Pat Long, Christine Fajardo, Tony Sapienza, Jim Burkush, Bill Barry, and Dan O'Neil.
While different unions have different cost shares, on Wednesday city human resources director Lisa Drabik broke down the weekly cost increases for a typical employee on an 80/20 cost share for the two plans offered as follows:
HMO-SOS Single $4.41; HMO-SOS 2-Person $8.87; HMO-SOS Family $11.87; HDHP with HSA Single $4.18; HDHP with HSA 2-Person $8.39; and HDHP with HSA Family $10.79.
In his Fiscal Year '25 budget address, Mayor Jay Ruais said his staff projects a $1.4 million overrun in health care costs this year. The Queen City is not alone, with surrounding communities like Bedford facing an 18% increase in costs, and Londonderry reporting a 19.3% spike.
The city's health care plans cover approximately 2,817 employees per month, data shows. Through December 2023, Manchester spent a total of $12.7 million on health care costs. Twenty percent, or $2.6 million, has been spent on less than 1% of the people covered, Ruais said.
Health care costs are usually handled through an 80-20 split, with the city covering 80% of costs and employees 20%.
In a presentation April 2, representatives from Anthem and USI recommended Manchester raise rates by 16%. A memo circulated Tuesday by city human resources director Lisa Drabik and city finance director Sharon Wickens dropped that number down to 12%.
Alderman Tony Sapienza suggested reducing the rate hike even further, down to 7%, citing past overage predictions that came in on the high side
"In 2023 they recommended 13.8 percent, it came in at three — 10.8 percent over," Sapienza said. "Last year they projected 10 percent, it came in at seven."
"And we ended the fiscal year $3 million over plan, because we did not raise rates accordingly," Drabik said.
"It's not fair to the employees to charge them if they're paying 20 percent — that's one fourth of what the city should be paying," Sapienza said. "It's unfair to charge them more than what the mayor's putting in his budget, because these are all projections. If they come in low, we don't give the employees a rebate."