CCSD support staff laments health insurance cost hikes

Support staffers in the Clark County School District are lamenting an increase in health insurance costs, saying that higher out-of-pocket costs will leave them financially strapped.

The new insurance coverage through Unitedhealthcare’s Health Plan of Nevada, which takes effect in September and also covers school police officers, features three plans instead of five.

Changes include a $1,000 annual deductible per employee for the cheapest plan, which previously did not have any deductible.

“I can’t afford it,” said Georgina Parra-ureno, a student program placement processor who will see her contribution jump from $280.40 per paycheck to $420.”

District CFO Jason Goudie said the rising premiums are the result of increasing medical costs across the board.

In 2017-18, the total health care cost for support staff and police in the district’s budget was $92 million. This school year, rates have gone up about 4.6 percent, for a total of almost $97 million, according to the district.

The reduction from five to three plans helped lower the overall cost, Goudie said.

An additional factor is the unresolved support staff contract, which was sent to arbitration. The contract ran through June 30, 2017.

As a result of the ongoing dispute, the district’s monthly health-care contribution of $576.65 per employee has remained the same for the coming year — meaning employees are absorbing the cost increases.

Employees contributed about

$15.5 million of the $92 million in costs last year. They will contribute about $21 million of the total this year.

The district’s portion will remain at $76.5 million.

Employee costs could be reduced, however, if an arbitrator rules that the district should increase its contribution.

The district has claimed that it simply does not have the money to pay for increased health benefits.

If the district gets an unfavorable arbitration ruling, Goudie said, more budget cuts will ensue.

But in a statement, the association’s president said the union does not support the increases and that they did not result from negotiations with the district.