COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The cost of health care has more than doubled in Milton Williams' two decades as treasurer of a small school district in northeast Ohio.þþWith Lakeview schools now paying almost $2 million a year in premiums, Williams says he's open to a legislative proposal to have the state's school districts pool together to buy health insurance.þþHe isn't alone: Advocates in at least a half dozen states where insurance pooling plans are being considered say it makes little sense for school systems to negotiate health plans individually.þþ''We'd definitely like to spend more money on textbooks and instructional supplies,'' Williams said.þþOpponents of insurance pooling -- including many teachers' unions and districts with generous benefits -- say a state-run bureaucracy can diminish benefits and strip them of collective bargaining rights.þþBut proponents of insurance pooling see it as a way for states to free up money for books and teachers' salaries in their school districts, which are both hurting for revenues and pressed by rising health care costs.þþIn Ohio, Republican Gov. Bob Taft is backing insurance pooling legislation. The House gave its approval in April, and Senate Republicans support the idea, although they want to study it further.þþSupport is strong in other states, too: In Michigan, Senate Republicans are pushing for a pool after several superintendents complained about rising health care costs.þþThe goal is to ''spend less on the cost of education and more on educating children,'' said state Sen. Shirley Johnson, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.þþIn Oregon, Gov. Ted Kulongoski says a common health care plan could save the state's 198 districts and community colleges $50 million a year. And in Pennsylvania, a study commissioned by lawmakers concluded a statewide plan could have saved $585 million in 2003.þþIn Zumbrota, Minn., high school math teacher Mike Matuska hopes a statewide study on the subject commissioned by lawmakers leads to health care pooling there.þþMatuska, 38, a father of three children under age 9, said his premiums jumped from $186 per month five years ago to $550 after his district suffered a handful of expensive claims. He said the district is now debating dropping health insurance for employees.þþA pool ''just gives you a more consistent, year-to-year increase, which I think school districts have to have,'' he said.þþGeorgia, Kentucky and North Carolina require health care pools for schools, while Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin have optional plans, according to a 2004 study by Reden & Anders Ltd., a Minneapolis consulting firm.þþIn Oregon and Minnesota, teachers' unions support pooling, arguing it will help schools avoid budget cuts driven by soaring medical costs. But unions in Michigan and Ohio are opposed, saying a state-run monopoly would limit competition and hurt benefits.þþTom Schmida, a middle school social studies teacher in the Cleveland area, pays $50 a month for health care benefits, a low premium he says would disappear with pooling.þþ''We negotiated to keep strong benefits,'' said Schmida, 54, president of the Cleveland Heights teachers' union.þþBut House Republicans in Ohio predict savings of $650 million to schools over four years. That's a fraction of the state's $7 billion education budget, but still welcome as districts continue to ask voters for more money, proponents of the measure say.þþ''The bottom line is we want districts to have the least expensive but highest value health care they can get,'' said Rep. Chris Widener, a Republican from Springfield.þþ
Source: NY Times
