The plan will provide an annual $1,000 dental benefit to retired Quincy employees. The 50% monthly premium to be paid by the retiree will be $10.30 for the Delta individual and $31.76 for the family. The Delta Care will cost $8.50 and $21.02 monthly.

First proposed in 1996 when the Quincy Insurance Advisory Committee sent a letter to Mayor Sheets, the plan had been placed on the back-burner while Sheets grappled with several very serious fiscal situations, including the closing of Quincy Hospital. With the hospital problem resolved, the Mayor agreed to extend employees dental insurance to retirees at a June 23 meeting.

A coalition of retirees and employees consisting of members of the City's Insurance Advisory Committee and a sub-committee on dental insurance worked with Mayor Sheets in reaching agreement on the dental plan. The coalition consisted of: Steve Moynihan (retired school dept.), Pauline Kennedy (hospital retiree), Bill Phinney (retired school dept.), Richard Churchill (police officer), Kathleen McCormack (library dept.) and Paul Phillips (Pres., Quincy Education Assoc.).

Steve Moynihan is president of the 1,400-member Quincy Retiree Association, one of the largest and most active of such local organizations in the state. Moynihan credited the perseverance of the negotiating delegation and cooperation of Mayor Sheets for making the proposal become a reality. "It took time and work, but no one gave up even when the plan became stalled for a while. It was well worth the effort," he said.