City Council

Minutes from the Special City Council Meeting on Thursday July 29, 2025, at 6:00 pm irr the Auditorium are as follows: f · "., - \· • t r - ' - J I Laflamme, Frank N., President At-Large Councilor Present Roy, Gerard (Jerry) A. At-Large Councilor Prese•n.t .i'( . Cr··• , _1i, , .·- l; II . ! • . , Wagner, Timothy Joseph At-Large Councilor Absent /' Arriaga, Abigail Ward 1 Councilor Absent Brooks, Shane D. Ward 2 Councilor Present via Zoom@ 6:32 Goff, Susan M. Ward 3 Councilor Present Bala kier, George A. Ward 4 Councilor Present Kram pits, Fred T. Ward 5 Councilor Present Shumsky, Samuel Robert Ward 6 Councilor Present Courchesne, William C. Ward 7 Councilor Present Labrie, Gary R. Ward 8 Councilor Present Pniak-Costello, Mary Elizabeth Ward 9 Councilor Present --Dawn Fortin, 102 Pheasant Drive, Springfield, spend a majority of awake time in the building. Started with the city in January of 2020. Been with the city for 5 1/2 years. Took a pay cut to start with the city. Covid closed the offices in March. Was coming to the building to make sure every employee was being taken care of. Some groups are getting a livable wage. Vacancy rates are at 14.5%, laborers 30%. That's 1/3 of the workforce, there is a 19-23% increase in our insurance. Something has to give. Let us be a working city. Kate Moss, 115 Hampden Street, move back to Chapter 32 B Section 19 to allow the Mayor greater flexibility, least amount of out of packet expenses. Shifted cost onto employees. City employee health insurance trust brokers report. April of 2025 set the rates for 2026. Increase cost without real input. Representation from employee groups is needed. IAC active due to no list of members. Request clarity when was the last time employees were given respect. Move away from Chapter 328 Sections 21-23. Crystal Bouchie, 88 Aspen Road, Springfield, questions in the name of transparency. Joining GIC? Why have we not solicited brokers outside of HUB? Not in the best interest to get ratepayers a lower rate. When is the last time a bid has been put out? How much has HUB made off the city? Where do we bargain? Why was the decision to move into 21-23 not looked at better? 36% of salary goes to insurance. Ben Eisen, 306 Grove Street, President of CEA, albatross for employees to be carrying. Options being discussed before. No power/no advising. DGB is the 3rd insurance provider, all local hospitals accept it. All members struck between high cost or terrible care. 197 employees left the school department this year alone. Victoria Wanko, Enfield, earned her Masters in Education from the Elms in 2024. Started a chess club, first year paying for insurance, involved with before and afterschool clubs. Negatively impacted pay, knew this was a mistake, went to HR, they explained it was not. Making less than the first year teaching. Lowest plan went up only 9%. Did summer school to act as a buffer. Police, Fire, EMT's, seek out new insurance plans. Not an easy job but not impossible. Sue Nimchick, 362 James Street, private insurance is failing the commonwealth. Saw frustration and sound bites. Basically employees can't survive. Can't outsource the entire city workforce. Went to a trustee option, obtained data from municipalities. There are dedicated individuals, getting harder to live in this state. Can do two parallel things at the same time. Seek out what's being tried. --Motion made by Councilor Labrie to close public input. Motion passed by a unanimous roll call vote. Councilors Wagner, Arriaga and Brooks absent. --Motion made by Councilor Labrie to discuss health insurance, rates, reviews and offerings. Councilor Laflamme stated had to request this meeting, Council has no process in the part of this process. Mayor stated there are a lot inaccuracies out there about the health insurance. Mayor introduced the people there representing HUB Mark Chrysatelli, 6 Briar Cliff Drive, Wilbraham, Kathy Breton, 75 Windham Drive, East Longmeadow and Russell Denver, 2 Lester Street, East Longmeadow. Mark stated around 7 years ago moved away from a fully insured plan. City and health care plan. Toes in the water for self-insuring. Become completely self- insured. He gave a PowerPoint presentation. Councilor Bala kier stated some of the driving forces are claims. Thoughts, audit of the following may be helpful. Drugs, procedures, top 10 diseases in the state, top 10 prescribed drugs. Implementation of a wellness program. Public school nutritionist could help. Lisa sanders Health director on the city employees. Consultant, health literacy. Mitigate the costs. Councilor Pniak-Costello stated haven't gone out to bid for a while. When is the last time you went out to bid? Mark from HUB said 8-10 years every year we look at new carriers. Difference in cost. Comparable amounts. All are comparable. Majority of the cost is in the claims. Insurance covers up to $250,000. Controlling the claims. Adding the DGB plan is the most unique move locally. BHN has that plan. Charge for that plan is a lot less. Not going out to bid enough. Councilor Pniak-Costello stated referenced when was the last time you bid? Mark from HUB stated under M.G.L there is no requirement to bid out brokerage services. Now that you are self-insured it is required. Bid out plans go to the market every single year. Based on claims that we give them. Councilor Pniak-Costello asked when would the bidding take place? Kathy from HUB stated always go to bid every year. Can be good for up to three years. Councilor Pniak-Costello stated long time for no bidding from 8-10 years. Councilor Courchesne stated part of the insurance challenge is overutilized insurance. Mark from HUB stated If you collected $2,500,000 would it go to the insurance companies? Now with the trust the $500,000 stays with the city. Councilor Courchesne asked why can't we have a plus one? Mark from HUB stated it would add to the cost of the family plan. Health insurance is notoriously unfair. Outline of procurement proceeds. Mayor stated DGB health plan, not insurance. Councilor Labrie stated there was a chart that had a group of people with high costs. Could you run a report of self-insured vs insured. Mark from HUB stated can increase the rate in Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Disallowed increase. Can afford to offer a choice because the city is so large. Councilor Labrie stated I'm sure the Covid hangover increased claims after 2 years. Self-insured, can increase the rate mid-year. Can afford to offer the choice. Mark from HUB stated claimdoc contacts doctors office, 94% acceptance rate to add new doctors. Councilor Goff asked have you looked into choosing what's important to the employees? Mark from HUB answered restricted due to 32B can't eliminate. DGB can negotiate. Cost shift. DGB uses Medicare rates as it's base. Baystate would get more from DGB but not as much as from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. --Motion to discuss passed by a unanimous roll call vote. Councilors Wagner and Arriaga absent. Adjournment: Motion made by Councilor Pniak-Costello to adjourn at 7:25. Motion passed by a unanimous roll call vote. Councilors Wagner and Arriaga absent . . ATTEST: Keith W. Rattell, City Clerk  City of Chicopee Health Plan Summary 1 • Financial History • New Cost Saving Plan Implemented • Rising Cost and Utilization of Healthcare - - . -- - - . ·- - -- - - --- ··-- -·-- -- ·------ -· ·--~ ·· - - .. . - -. 2 Comparison to other Municipalities and the GIC Agenda 3 - -----·. - ·--··· - - - ---~- . --· · - What is Self Insuring . . - ... ·• . -·- - ··-· ·- · . . - -- - • Fully Insured vs. Self-Insured Comparison • Self-Funded Definitions 4 Advantages and Disadvantages 5 Appendices 2 I (';) 2025 HUD lnt~rnullonal t.,m,tcd Summary of the City's Health Plans Monthly/ Quarterly/ Annual reviews of the health plans offered, claims utilization and market trends. • Moved to partial self-insuring 7 years ago • Accumulated approximately $ 1.95 million in the Health Plan Trust (Between FY18 - FY24) • Increased the amount of Self-Insuring in FY 25 and Added a new TPA and plan design (RBP). • Added approximately$ 460 k to the Trust through mid-July 2025. FY 2025: • Total Health Plan Expenditures=$ 25,427,197 • Total Working Rates (City and Employee contributions) = $ 25,702,206 • As of today, the City of Chicopee's Health plan Trust has accumulated approximately$ 2.5 million. • The Trust balance is owned by the City and the Health plan participants. • Many Municipalities, private sector employers and the GIC did not fair as well as the City of Chicopee. -4 I C> 2025 HUB fntern&Uonot Llmtted. Q HUB Summary of the City's Health Plans FY 2025: • Approximately 90°/c, of the City of Chicopee's health plans are comprised of expenses paid to healthcare providers and pharmacies. • Approximately 3% is paid to Health New England, BC/BS and DGB to process claims • Approximately 7% is paid to Sun Life for Stop Loss Insurance($ 250,0_00 Deductible) • Total Health Plan Expenditures=$ 25,427,197 • Total Working Rates (Revenue) (City and Employee contributions) = $ 25,702,206 • As of today, the City of Chicopee's Health plan Trust as accumulated approximately $ 2.5 million. • The Trust balance is owned by the City and the Health plan participants. • Many Municipalities, private sector employers and the GIC did not fair as well as the City of Chicopee and their health plan expenses were higher than the health plans' revenues. S I Q 2025 HUB ln1ernatlonaJ Llmlled. 0 HUB Summary of the City's Health Plans FY 2025: • Coe had 13 insured members with claims totaling over$ 200 k • Of which 3 insured members have claims totaling over $ 300 k • 1 insured member has claims over $ 500 k • 1 insured members has claims over $ 1.5 million • Over $ 500 k spent on GLP-1 medicines for weight loss. This is expected to increase in FY 26 e I c, 2025 HUB lnlernaoonal Limited. Q HUB Creative Solutions to Control Rising Health Costs Implemented A Reference Based Pricing (RBP} Option in FY 25 • The new plan was with DGB / ClaimDoc. - - - • No other Municipality, to our k11_owledge, has offered this type of plan. • This option enabled the City to offer a plan with a O % increase compared to the FY 24 rates. • This new plan matched the current level of benefits as the Most Enrolled in Plan (Health New England HMO Plan). • This plan gives access to healthcare providers throughout the U.S. • Initial Enrollment was 114 Employees and 235 Members in FY 25. • Enrollment grew by 66 °/o in FY 26. (197 Employees and 390 Members now covered under this plan}. 7 I c:> 2025 HUB lnl&malional Umlled. Q HUB  Rising Healthcare Costs and Utilization Increase Healthcare Cost and Utilization has created challenges for all Health Plans Insured or Self- Insured. • BC/BS declared losses of over$ 400 million in 2024. • Harvard / Pilgrim declared $ 382 million in 2024 and $ 264 million of losses in 2023. • Mass General I Brigham declared $ 72 million in 2024 and is projecting a $ 250 million budget shortfall and is laying off hundreds of employees. • Baystate Hospital declared losses of$ 300 million. • The GIC ran out of money to fund their health plans in May - 2025, despite double digit % rate increases iThe GIC had to request $ 240,000,000 to fund their shortfall in FY 2025. • The Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust increased FY 26 rates +18°/o and fncreasing an additional ~20% on 10/1/2025.J B I~ 2025 HUB 1n1ern~uona1 Ltmlt&CI. Q HUB  Rising Healthcare Costs and Utilization Increase Healthcare Cost and Utilization has created challenges for all Health Plans, both Insured and Self-Insured. Contributing reasons for the Rising Costs and Utilization of Healthcare: • Aging Population (More Complex Chronic Conditions). • Increasing Chronic Disease Prevalence (Heart disease, Stroke, Cancer, Diabetes, Chronic Kidney, COPD). • Rising Prescription Drug Prices and Increase of Specialty Precision medicines & (GLP-1 weight loss meds). • Increasing Healthcare service costs. • "Covid Hangover" Care ignored during and after Covid as exacerbated some medical conditions. 9 I (I 2025 HUB lnltmallonal Wmtttd Q HUB Municipalities and the GIC • Each year we Benchmark the City of Chicopee's (CoC) health plans to other Municipal and the GIC's Health plans: o On average, CoC's most enrolled in plan has lower rates than 90% of the most enrolled in plans for other Municipalities and lower than the GIC. o CoC's new RBP plan has comparable benefits as each of the most enrolled in plans for the GIC and other municipalities AND the rates for that plan are on average 28% lower. o Many other Municipal plans and the GIC plans had expenses exceeding the revenue ("insurance premiums") o The City of Chicopee has not had expenses exceeqing revenue for the past 7 plan years. 11 I C 2025 HUB lnlornAtional Llmllad. Q HUB