The Commission on Public School Employee Health Benefits includes five voting members from school boards and school employees. Four of those on the educators’ side are Vermont-NEA members and one represents the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.
Put simply, our goal is to establish a health care package for educators that is equitable and affordable.
What we stand for
We believe it is possible to create a fair and just society where all people are treated with dignity and shielded from harm. Among other things, this requires that health care be universally accessible, affordable, and equitable. Health care must be recognized as a human right.
We endorse, therefore, the following principles:
1. The lives of low-income and high-income workers and their families are equally valuable and must be equally protected from illness and injury.
2. Everyone should have access to safe and timely health care services when they need them, with the guidance of medical providers they know and trust.
3. No one should be denied health care or be forced to self-ration care because of cost.
4. Cost-sharing in private benefit plans should be structured to encourage patients to seek high-value, cost-effective care – like primary and preventive care, clinically recommended treatments for chronic conditions, telemedicine services, mental health care, and life-saving medications. Imposing high deductibles on virtually every pill and procedure often blocks or delays access to the kinds of medical care that are most important to protecting and sustaining our lives.
5. Private benefit plans should be easy to navigate and simple to administer. Benefit plan education must be provided to workers and their families to ensure they can access medical treatment in an efficient and dignified fashion.
As we enter statewide negotiations over health care benefits for school employees and their dependents, we will seek outcomes that reflect these principles – for ourselves and all Vermonters.