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VSBA urges overhaul of school employee health benefits to rein in rising costs
Summary
The Vermont School Boards Association told lawmakers that rising health-care costs for school employees — premiums up about 125% from FY18 to FY25 and current costs exceeding $300 million annually — threaten district budgets and urged changes to the Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits, a single statewide HRA administrator, caps phased in over time, and expanded arbitration criteria.
Sue Cyglowski, executive director of the Vermont School Boards Association, told the House Education committee the association’s first legislative priority is reforming the Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits to address rapidly rising health-care costs that she said now exceed $300 million annually and have increased far faster than inflation.
Cyglowski said the most common plans’ premiums have "more than doubled… rising approximately 125% from FY18 to FY25," while the consumer price index increased about 32% in the same period. She warned that, if current trends…
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