MAY 2006 - Enrollment In State Plan Possible - Desperate to resolve the local health insurance cost dilemma, which has been crippling city and town budgets, labor leaders and municipal government officials are attempting to reach an agreement on legislation that would help pave the way for local retirees and employees to become insured under the state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC), which could possibly lead to significant cost savings for all parties.

MAY 2006 - Wellesley Approves First Payment Toward Schedule - In a move that foreshadows similar action throughout the Commonwealth in the not-to-distant future, Arlington has established a trust fund to pay future retiree healthcare costs. Arlington's action follows on the heels of similar action by Wellesley (see July '05 Voice).

MARCH 2006 - Developments At The Local Level
1. Weymouth: Mayor Agrees Subsidy To Benefit Retirees
Weymouth Mayor David Madden has assured members of that community's municipal health insurance plan that money forthcoming each year from the Medicare Retiree Drug Subsidy (RDS) program will be used to reduce future healthcare costs.

JANUARY 2006 - Worcester Retirees Battle City Manager And Win - While Association officials are fighting back efforts at the State House to enact legislation that would increase healthcare costs for local retirees, members are waging similar battles in their city or town halls. Take, for example, Worcester where retirees and their allies successfully stopped the city manager from increasing health insurance costs for some of them within a matter of weeks.

JANUARY 2006 - Retirees & Unions Beat Back Mayors' Proposal - Association and union lobbyists won a major victory this fall in the fight over local health insurance. Our combined forces beat back a challenge to our members' health insurance coverage.