St. Paul teachers examine health insurance options

The St. Paul Federation of Teachers is exploring switching to the Public Employees Insurance Program to cover its health care insurance.

Teachers, like many folks, are frustrated with rising costs and climbing premiums, said Mary Cathryn Ricker, president of the 3,600-member union. And there's a good chance that the public employees program could offer coverage for less.

While quotes of what each member would pay for their current level of coverage are not yet available, numbers provided by the public employees group are "about 2 percent less," Ricker said.

Ricker said that if the public employees group plan provides cheaper coverage, she could ask her executive board to put the issue to a vote, possibly by the end of the school year. She acknowledged that if the St. Paul teachers leave their district insurance pool for the Public Employees Insurance Program pool, other teachers unions across Minnesota could follow suit.

"I'm determined to find a benefit for our members wherever I can get it," she said Monday before the meeting.

Education Minnesota, the state teachers union, has been pushing the Legislature to create a statewide pool for some time. The more employees in a pool, theoretically, the lower the costs because the cost of claims could be spread across more members.

Ricker, in fact, said one of the reasons she is exploring the move is her frustration with the St. Paul schools not doing more to push for a statewide pool. Wayne Arndt, employee relations manager for the St. Paul schools, said that if the members of the federation leave the St. Paul pool, it could drive up the cost of insurance for the remaining 3,000 or so employees. But that might not happen right away, depending on whether claims went up. Conversely, he said, teachers may find they don't end up saving money by moving because teachers' claims could drive up the cost of the public employees pool. Ricker said one of the major issues facing teachers is the rising cost of family health coverage. But Arndt said only about 25 percent of St. Paul's teachers are enrolled in family plans.

"Something may look good to start with and turn out bad," Arndt said. "We want them to stay with us."

James Walsh • 651-298-1541