Friday night the School Board voted to impose the new premium schedule that resulted in an estimated $3.76 million in creases to employees on top of $7.66 million in plan changes.  In the end the School District has removed between 11 and 12 million dollars from the pockets of the employees.  The Board had designated the added $900,000 from the District to be used to give relief to those employees with Employee+1 and Employee+Family plans.  The result was a reduction for EE+1 of $475 a year and for those with family coverage of $894 per year. 

In an effort to keep you informed we will be posting the entire rate schedule as well as a summary of the different plans for you to look at on our website www.escambiafea.org. 

At Friday night’s meeting, Escambia FEA spokesman Bill Vincent voiced your Union’s anger over how the process had been abused to return a desired outcome, as opposed to being a collaborative effort to seek a solution to the issue of affordable health insurance.  In the end, the District chose to place 80% of the burden on the backs of the employees.  Ignoring pleas form your union to take a more balanced approach making the plan solvent in the long run.

The District is moving forward with plans to study the feasibility of opening a clinic for employees and their families.  They will also be releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a new contract for an insurance consultant as well as looking at options for other administrators. 

Before enrollment begins it is your Unions goal to schedule a series of regional meetings to explain the differences in the plans.  Continue to visit www.escambiafea.org to find a schedule of the meetings when it is finalized.