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Select Board hears plan for new lower-cost health option; town projects savings for FY26
Summary
Town officials told the Select Board a new health-plan option with a $2,000 deductible (with a $1,000 town contribution to an HSA) will be offered July 1; staff said the alternative could reduce employee premiums compared with a 14.9% increase to the existing plan and expected the change to contribute to $300,000 in FY26 health-care savings.
Town Manager Kevin Lewis told the Select Board the town will offer an additional, lower-cost health-insurance option beginning July 1 as part of open enrollment for fiscal 2026. The option pairs the existing plan with a $2,000 deductible and a $1,000 town contribution to a health spending account; staff said the alternative could reduce employee costs compared with a 14.9% premium increase on the current plan.
Lewis said the option would lower employee costs by about 3.7% compared with what employees would otherwise pay if they remained on the existing plan facing the 14.9% increase. He emphasized the option applies to active employees and that the town will provide communications and open-enrollment sessions in multiple locations so employees can evaluate choices.
Lewis credited School Committee Chair Steve Schoenfeld and staff for helping launch the effort and said the change is intended to capture projected FY26 savings of roughly $300,000 for the town’s budget. Board members asked whether preventive services such as annual physicals and blood work would be covered under the deductible plan and staff confirmed those services remain covered.
No formal vote was taken; staff said they will distribute detailed materials and a personal letter to employees before open enrollment.
