Although there will now be a $40 co-pay for primary care doctors and specialists, the patient?s deductible drops to $750 from $1,500.
Mark Grey, assistant superintendent of business services, said the deductible will include ancillary services like drawing blood.
The 13,000 employees on the health insurance plan, which is administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield, won?t have to pay a premium to have health insurance. The district had proposed an estimated $50, Grey said, which had been one of the sticking points between the two groups.
Grey said the district was paying less money for the plan so it did not have to charge premiums.
Through May, the district has had only eight claims that were $150,000 or greater, coming to a total $2.1 million compared to the 39 claims over the previous school year totaling $13.3 million.
Grey said district officials didn?t know about the reduced liability at an Aug. 3 special School Board meeting between the district and the union because they didn?t have all the data.
?When you wait for data sometimes it comes out in your favor or it goes the other way,? he said. ?It happened to be better.?
Superintendent of Schools Sherrie Nickell said she is satisfied with the deal.
?I really want to thank the School Board members for allowing both parties to have more time to discuss and deliberate on these important agreements that affect our employees,? she said in a news release. ?Decisions such as this can only happen where a high level of trust exists.?
Marianne Capoziello, Polk Education Association president, said Nickell played a huge role in both sides reaching an agreement.
?I am gratified that we were able to come back to the table and find a solution that did not financially devastate employees,? Capoziello said.
While the district has resolved its issues with the teacher?s union, it still needs to approve a plan with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees which include bus drivers, custodians, mechanics and food service employees.
?There?s just a lot of things about it that can be improved,? said Tony Blair, AFSCME president.
The agreement will now have to be approved by the School Board, and the PEA membership.
Apart from the insurance agreement, district officials confirmed plans for an employee health clinic.
Following the Aug. 3 special meeting, district and PEA officials had a series of meetings. The special meeting became necessary after the district and the PEA couldn?t agree on pay and the health insurance. An impasse was declared and the issues on health payments and raises were sent to the School Board.
While the board agreed to freeze salaries, it told the union and the district?s administration to take the health insurance issue to the bargaining table.
The district hasn?t made higher contributions to its health-care plan for many years and now it is trying to play catch up, union officials previously said.
The current contribution is $440 per month, or $5,280 annually per employee. The district?s new contribution is $6,043 annually, or $503 per month. The magistrate recommended increasing contributions to $6,276 annually, or $523 per month, with lesser funding for part-time employees. The district?s position was the proposed contribution was all it could afford.
Earlier this month, the 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously confirmed a ruling that the School District violated state law by refusing to bargain with the two local unions when it changed health care plans in 2009.
Tuesday?s agreement resolves both the unfair labor practice charge and the collective bargaining impasse on the 2010-2011 contract year.
[ Merissa Green can be reached at merissa.green@theledger.com or 863-802-7547. ]
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