February 26, 2013 — Legislation pushed by the unions would give local governments the option of offering their employees the health insurance benefits offered by the Public Employees Benefit Board and the Oregon Educators Benefit Board.
“The smaller, rural governments around the state are in trouble as far as their insurance plans about what they can offer,” said Ken Allen, the executive director of Oregon American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “It would be a lot better for our local governments to have this option in their toolbox.”
Allen told legislators that the hyperinflation in private health insurance costs was falling especially hard on smaller governments, which have seen premium rates rise 15 to 20 percent a year. “The number one problem in collective bargaining negotiations around the state was how to pay for healthcare costs.”
Both OEBB and PEBB, he said, have done a good job of bending the cost curve with health wellness programs and preventive medicine. HB 2279 would also enlarge their governing board to include local government representatives.
“We care about the health of our workforce and are experiencing cost increases and we are worried about the sustainability of our benefit plans,” said Travis Graves, the human resources director for Multnomah County. “One of the things we know we can do is consider looking at a larger risk pool. This bill would give our board an opportunity to review that.”
The bill also has the support of the League of Oregon Cities, but whether local governments would actually take advantage of the state’s two public health insurance options was unclear.
Many communities may find that the costs of PEBB and OEBB are higher than what they currently pay for health insurance benefits.
“Traditionally the plans provided by PEBB and OEBB are fairly rich, more than our members could afford,” said Frank Stratton, executive director of the Special Districts Association of Oregon, which represents 950 special districts, such as park districts and fire departments, many with fewer than five employees.
“We did take a very long look at PEBB in the past, and it’s just too expensive for what our members can afford,” said Hasima Squires, a lobbyist for the Special Districts Association. She said 210 of the special districts participate in a health insurance plan sponsored by the association.
“School districts wanted out of OEBB,” said Rep. Jim Weidner, R-McMinnville. “My cities can’t afford this at all. And I haven’t heard anyone asking to be in OEBB, everyone’s asking to be let out.”
Instead, Weidner wants to amend the bill, allowing school districts that are currently in OEBB to opt out and be able to purchase private health insurance.
Squires and Stratton wanted it to be clear that HB 2279 was not a mandate but merely an option for local governments, and union representatives from AFSCME and the Service Employees International Union acknowledged that was their intention for the bill, which has bipartisan support from Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland and Rep. Jim Thompson, R-Dallas.
Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer. D-Portland, was concerned that PEBB and OEBB do not yet cover transgender healthcare, which is offered by Multnomah County and the city of Portland.
“You’ve worked very hard to offer transgender health services in a way that has not been offered in a lot of other places,” she said.
Multnomah County, which is self-insured, expanded health coverage for transgender people in 2010 and the city of Portland followed a year later.
But transgender benefits are something Multnomah County or Portland might have to negotiate with the state insurance boards. “We haven’t done our due diligence to look into what OEBB and PEBB offer,” Graves said.
If HB 2279 moves forward, it would have to be referred to the Joint Committee on Ways & Means for a fiscal impact, but no vote was taken in the Health Committee last week.
