Health Care for Teachers

One of the largest expenses that a Michigan public school district has is health expense. Must public school teachers seem to prefer the health insurance provided through the Michigan Education Special Services Association (Messa). This insurance is controlled by the Michigan Education Association.
Most school districts feel that this is too expensive of a plan. Most teacher bargaining gets bogged down when this issue is bargained in the teacher contract. Last week I received a school district newsletter called “Jay News” from the Shepherd School District. The Superintendent wants to get rid of Messa because it costs too much to provide for each teacher.
Today I got my copy of MEA Voice which is the magazine printed for Michigan school teachers. One article on the wellness page caught my eye. The article is “Pinckney Teachers return to MESSA after promised savings disappear”. The Pinckney teachers were asked to switch from MESSA three years ago because a different plan would save the district $600,000. Costs skyrocketed with the non-MESSA plan and rates rose 35%. The school board in Pinckney asked the teachers to return to MESSA because it would save $330,000 over the non-MESSA insurance plan.
Teachers will continue to be put on this merry-go-round of health benefits because of health costs. Everybody needs good health benefits but this issue will be in the spotlight until someone can come up with a better alternative. I think that one solution would be to put everybody on the Blue Cross program that the retired teachers have now. Yes, you pay a little for co-pays but it seems to work well.