Portsmouth council votes to pay School Care assessment under protest to keep teacher coverage

Portsmouth City Council voted 8–1 on March 16 to authorize the city manager to negotiate a payment agreement with School Care to cover a member assessment, approving payment “under protest” to preserve continuous health coverage for school employees.

The action followed a lengthy presentation and question-and-answer session with New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scandlin, who described pooled-risk health organizations as self‑insurance vehicles that spread claims among member political subdivisions and said regulators may require members to pay assessments when reserves fall short. Scandlin repeatedly cited RSA 5B as the statutory authority that governs oversight of those pools and said his office would provide written guidance if the council requested it.

Councilors asked whether School Care could deny claims if a member paid premiums but failed to satisfy an assessment. Scandlin answered that, in practice, a pooled‑risk organization that needs cash flow can withhold claim payments until assessments are paid, and he cited prior failures of other pools as precedent. Eric Forcher of the Secretary of State’s Bureau of Securities said the regulator had shared actuarial, accounting and other resources with School Care during the recent stress period but did not have a specific recollection of every internal governing document reviewed.

Councilors and the public described two competing obligations: protecting taxpayers from a large, unexpected assessment and ensuring uninterrupted health coverage for employees. Several councilors stressed fairness to other pool members and the need for reforms—citing proposed legislation to set reserve thresholds and trigger notices—while others emphasized avoiding gaps in care for teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff.

After discussion, the council also unanimously directed the city attorney to request public records from School Care, the Secretary of State’s office and the New Hampshire education association related to the assessment, and asked the city manager and the school board to explore available uncommitted funds to cover as much of the stated assessment as possible without cutting services.

The motion to pay under protest passed 8–1 (Assistant Mayor Kelly, Counselor Cook, Counselor Taber, Counselor Bllelock, Counselor Monroe, Counselor Flynn, Counselor Hopkins and Mayor McCackan voted yes; Counselor Baggley voted no). The council did not adopt any permanent funding plan at the meeting; members said they would seek written legal clarity from the Secretary of State’s office and pursue legislative fixes to prevent similar shortfalls in the future.

The council’s action preserves employees’ current coverage in the near term; councilors and speakers at public comment said they intend to press for governance and reserve reforms that make assessments less likely going forward.