Title
Motion Expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny urging the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to vote against the current draft of the Public School Employees' Benefit Act, HB 1277, a bill which would establish a statewide health care system for public school employees in Pennsylvania due to the Act's potential deleterious effects on employees of the Commonwealth's Community Colleges.
Body
WHEREAS, community colleges are not included in the enactment of HB 1277, except that, within 18 months after a health care benefits program or alternative measures program is fully implemented, a report would be issued by the Secretary of Administration to determine the feasibility of including community colleges in the statewide healthcare system; and
WHEREAS, by excluding community colleges, including the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), HB 1277 would increase healthcare costs for community college employees, because the Allegheny County School Health Insurance Consortium would be eliminated thereby forcing CCAC to purchase health insurance coverage individually; and
WHEREAS, the increased health care costs would create a hardship for Allegheny County, the sponsor of CCAC, as well as for students that would see their tuition increase in order to cover the increased health care costs; and
WHEREAS, while HB 1277 includes a feasibility report to examine whether or not community colleges should be included in the statewide plan, there is no assurance that they will be part of any statewide health benefits program or alternative measures program; and
WHEREAS, the health care consortia model is preferable to a statewide plan because the consortia can bargain directly with healthcare providers and enjoy more favorable premiums, a wider array of plan choices, and lower administrative costs; and
WHEREAS, HB 1277 will potentially harm many public education employees through increased healthcare costs; and
WHEREAS, most...
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