The Health Insurance Trust Fund met on September 1 to discuss planned changes to the town’s insurance. It reviewed projected changes of STOP LOSS insurance renewals and premium rates, which are scheduled to take place on November 1, 2026.
The town currently uses Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) as its insurance for town employees. It is partially self-insured, with the majority of medical claims paid by the town’s Health Fund.
Westford’s current health insurance plan is being reconsidered by the Select Board and Health Insurance Trust due to rising health insurance and Medicare costs across the country, as previously reported by The Westford Villager.
STOP LOSS UPDATES
STOP LOSS insurance is protection against catastrophic or unpredictable losses, and is the reinsurance the town pays for plan participants that exceed $150K in claims during the year. It is not the same as health insurance coverage. Premium rates refer to the cost paid to the insurer, in this case the Town of Westford, regularly.
The town’s current STOP LOSS insurer is BCBSMA, but the Trustees are currently considering Sun Life as a STOP LOSS alternative. Sun Life is a global finance company, primarily in the U.S. and Canada, that provides financial planning, life insurance, health insurance, and more.
This year, the town paid over $3M in premium costs to BCBSMA, and received over $1M back. To compare, last year, the town paid 2.6M and received $3.2M back from BCBSMA in reimbursements.
If the town went with Sun Life, the total premium in cost would drop from $3.4M to $2.8M per year.
Although this was not reflected in the data at the time, BCBSMA “got back [to the Trustees] and lowered their premium,” according to Mark Criscitelli of HUB International, who is serving as a financial advisor to the Board.
“However, it is [still] not as low as Sun Life,” he added.
The Trust is still reviewing the quote it received from Sun Life. STOP LOSS renewal was not voted on during this meeting.
However, the town’s STOP LOSS insurance will need to be reviewed and renewed by March 1, 2027
Premium Cost Increases
The town’s insurance policies review every November 1, as the town needs to set new rates and increases each year. This is a separate insurance with a separate deadline from STOP LOSS.
In preparation, the Trustees voted on a 5.8% adjustment raise of premium rates to begin this November. This is due to the current health insurance premium increases with BCBSMA.
However, Finance Committee representative, Nate Mackinnon, critiqued the separate deadlines, stating that he believed the extra time would allow for greater research on the best options, despite the six month gap.
“Several years ago … the Town went self-insured in March, so we needed the STOP LOSS loss to start then as well, to protect us in the case of a large claimant,” Alternate of the Healthcare Trust Fund, Jesse Beyer said in a statement to The Westford Villager.
“This caused the two enrollment periods to be misaligned. No action was taken yesterday to realign them, because while it would align the SL to the health plan start, it would also reset the deductibles for the stop loss, having us have to pay $150K again sooner,” Beyer added.
During the meeting Kristen Las added that “Moving to a March 1 date really does not set us up for success for the FY28 budget, because we would not know the rates until we are well past the budget hearings … [With] the November renewal, we have the rates set before the Town Manager submits.”
“It seems we are misaligned … that is frustrating,” Mackinnon said.
Town-Wide Plan Design Changes
The trustees voted to go forward with plan design changes for the town-wide health insurance by March 1, 2027. It will implement deductibles, which Westford currently does not have for retirees or town employees, and it will adjust co-pays for employees as well.
BCBSMA will remain as the provider for the town-wide insurance.
“I don’t know if there will be a current change in the future,” Las said.
