One such county, Berkshire, has been doing just that - offering an insurance program for its towns and subdivisions for, some contend, as long and possibly longer than Plymouth. But county bragging rights will end as of July 1 when Berkshire County is abolished by state law. While the political landscape in Western Mass will be altered significantly with the county’s abolition, the insurance group will continue, albeit with some changes.

Knowing well in advance that Berkshire was being abolished this month, the county and the town/subdivisions in its insurance group set the groundwork a year ago. In July ‘99 they formed an insurance pool (joint purchasing group) titled the Berkshire County Insurance Group. (BCIG).

Representatives from each participating town and subdivision sit on the BCIG’s board of directors. Peter Menard of Windsor, who formerly was an elected member on the county retirement board, has been the board chairman.

As for the changes beginning July 1, retirees who worked for the county, along with county employees transferred to the state, will now be insured through the Commonwealth’s Group Insurance Commission. According to the state law abolishing Berkshire, they were no longer to be insured by the county.

Interestingly, employees of the county (now regional) retirement board could choose to stay with the BCIG or transfer to the GIC. "Some staff decided to remain with BCIG, primarily because of HMO Blue, while the remainder elected to go with the GIC coverage," reports the Board’s Executive Secretary Sheila LaBarbera.

Another change concerns the administration of the BCIG insurance program. Before July 1, the county commissioners had overall responsibility. They had been assisted, in an advisory capacity, by the BCIG’s board of directors. Since the county commissioners are out of office as of July 1, responsibility for the insurance group now shifts to the BCIG board of directors.

Program Features

As of July 1, the BCIG includes 15 towns and 3 subdivisions, plus the county retirement board, insuring approximately 420 retirees/survivors and employees, as well as their families. In turn, the BCIG, as a group, participates with 9 other towns, plus subdivisions, in another insurance pool known as the Berkshire Health Group. Editor’s Note:Voice. We reported on the Berkshire Health Group in the July’98

BCIG towns and subdivisions are offered, through the Berkshire Health Group, a full menu of Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans, including Master Medical, PPO, POS, HMO, Medex and an enhanced Medex. In addition, Dental Blue may be selected. Individual towns and subdivisions in BCIG decide which BC/BS plans will be available to its retirees/employees.

Premiums for each BC/BS plan are set annually for BCIG and are the same for its members. While the premiums are uniform, the rate, at which a retiree contributes, is still determined by each town or subdivision within BCIG.

Berkshire Health Group is self-insured. This means that insurance claims are paid from reserves held by the group, into which the BCIG premiums are deposited.

Over the past 9 years, the BCIG had experienced stable premiums. For Fiscal ‘01, beginning this month, there will unfortunately be premium increases - about 15%.

According to BCIG officials, continued rising health care costs, particularly with prescription drugs, over the past few years, plus greater claim experience than anticipated, have simply made it impossible to keep premiums down at this time. Also, it was necessary to shore up the reserves in case the current trend up in costs does not abate.

"As stated earlier (GIC Drug Change article) higher insurance premiums are driven, in no small part, by increasingly expensive drugs," comments Insurance Coordinator Cheryl Stillman. "It’s a problem which not only impacts the larger state (GIC) plan, but also local insurance pools like the Berkshire program."