WESTFIELD – According to claims made by Westfield Education Association President Lori Hovey to The Westfield News last week, the entry salary for a teacher in the Westfield school district is around $36,000, as opposed to $42,000 in West Springfield.
However, when total compensation for Westfield teachers is factored in, they foot a smaller portion of their healthcare bill than any of the surrounding communities, with the city paying 80 percent of its teacher’s healthcare benefits under Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO plans, and 65 percent of all Preferred Provider Organization, or PPO plans.
In fact, the City of Westfield pays for more of its teacher’s healthcare than any other nearby “large-local” districts, districts such as Agawam, who splits healthcare 70/30 with its HMO plans and goes 50/50 with PPOs, and Chicopee and Holyoke, who both split 50/50 with teachers in their respective districts.
Of comparably sized districts in western Mass., only Northampton and Pittsfield foot as large a portion of their teacher’s HMO healthcare costs as Westfield, but neither city matches Westfield in PPO coverage, with Northampton splitting its PPO costs 50/50, and Pittsfield going 60/40 with its educators.
Contrasting the alleged disparity between the Whip City and neighboring West Springfield, Westfield teachers have the option of five health insurance plans, two of which are Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans (PPO and HMO), and three belong to Health New England (a PPO, an HMO, and HMO High Deductable), which Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik brought in early in his tenure to encourage a more competitive rate with BC/BS, whose services are written into many contracts in the area.
In West Springfield, teachers have their pick of three plans, all through BC/BS: a high deductable HMO, a regular HMO, and a PPO.
According to the data of both of the Westfield HMO plans, which Hovey said are the most highly subscribed to by Westfield Unit A members, teachers pay the same rates for co-pays to see primary care physicians or specialists ($20 and $35), or for a visit to the emergency room and urgent care ($100 and $35).
West Springfield Unit A members are forced to pay $10 co-pays for PCPs, $20 for specialists and urgent care visits, and $100 per visit to the emergency room.
Westfield’s HMO deductibles, under HNE and BC/BS, are $250 per individual and $750 for families, while West Springfield’s HMO under BlueCross/BlueShield does not have a deductable.
The Westfield HMO deductable applies to emergency room, inpatient, same day surgery in a hospital or surgical center, high cost x-rays, including CT scans/MRI, PetScan, and Nuclear Medicine.
West Springfield’s BC/BS HMO, while not having a deductable, has a $1,000 member/$2,000 family out-of-pocket limit, while outpatient and inpatient procedures require $250 and $500 co-pays, respectively.
Major differences in the two cities’ plans lay in their sick leave buyback policies and the amount of money teachers pay out of their checks.
In Westfield, Unit A WEA members pay $57.95 out of their individual check and $151.55 per family, an 80/20 split with the city, as opposed to West Springfield, where employees foot 25 percent of their HMO healthcare, paying $84.74 per individual paycheck, and $222.91 per family.
The City of Westfield also offers a sick leave buy back clause for departing educators.
Under said clause, if a teacher has accumulated 180 days of sick leave upon retirement, they get 100 days of sick leave buyback. If the teacher accumulates under 180 days, they receive 65 days of buyback.
Kim Gehring, the administrative assistant to West Springfield’s Assistant Superintendent Kevin McQuillan, did not return a call from The Westfield News regarding West Springfield’s policy on sick leave and buyback or severance clauses.
In 2013, the City of Westfield budgeted $728,251 for school severance pay, but ended up spending approximately $1,115,443.35.
For 2014, the city has budgeted $704,943.00 for severance pay, but has spent $779,686.84 to date, as the severance checks are cut in July.
“The City of Westfield has the second best buyback policy of any city in the Commonwealth after Boston,” Hovey said Wednesday. “It was put in place fifteen or sixteen years ago, when people were making $12,000, $13,000 a year less. They weren’t making what we’re making today, just as we won’t be making what the people fifteen or sixteen years from now are making, hopefully.”
Hovey said that the difference in individual and family healthcare payments from paychecks for Westfield and West Springfield lay in the amount of time which the teachers are paid in.
“Teachers in West Springfield are paid for 40 weeks,” Hovey said. “While we in Westfield, our pay is spread out throughout the year.”
She also said that two years ago, when a new municipal health law was enacted by the state, the city’s teachers were faced with a choice.
“Either stay with what you have, go with the new health insurance option, or join GIC,” Hovey said of the Group Insurance Commission, before adding that the city didn’t have the amount of money necessary for active teachers to join the GIC, though school district retirees are eligible.
“What if I take my child to get blood work done at $78.00?” Hovey said. “And that’s on top of a co-pay. Or the person who is on Coumadin, and has to go to a lab every week?”
She then proceeded to lay out the lament of the teachers she represents.
“My salary isn’t going up, my health insurance isn’t what it was, and every time I turn around, I’m getting a bill,” Hovey said.
