"Within a month's time, three communities have adopted coalition bargaining on their health insurance programs - something we've never seen before," comments Legislative Chairman Bill Hill. "What's somewhat unique for Tewksbury is that over the past 15 years or so, the town and local unions have been adhering to some of the basic principles under coalition bargaining, without having adopted the law.

"And now they made it 'official' by accepting Section 19. But their acceptance was not a mere formality."

According to firefighter Mike Hazel, who chairs Tewksbury's Insurance Advisory Committee, "In addition to formally adopting (Section) 19, the advisory committee was successful in persuading town officials to agree to certain other proposals which, we felt, gave us the best possible insurance plan and protected our retirees.

"Those (retirees) under 65 can choose between Blue Care Elect and HMO Blue New England and contribute 20% toward the premium. For those 65 and over, there is Medex Gold, and the town picks up 100% of that premium - a great deal for our retirees." Editor's Note: If a retiree is not eligible for Medicare at age 65, Tewksbury pays the Part A premium, while the retiree pays for Part B , so that they are covered by the federal program.