The GIC will gain three more towns as of July 2014, it was announced this week, bringing the total of GIC communities to 41. East Bridgewater, Framingham, and Middleborough are the towns that will join: Framingham alone will save nearly $18 million.
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Group Insurance Commission (GIC) Municipalities as of June 2014
MAPC, spurred by its Metro Mayors Coalition, has long led the efforts to reform municipal health insurance in Massachusetts. These reforms have helped municipalities in our region and across the Commonwealth save millions of dollars by allowing cities and towns either to join the Commonwealth’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC) or to create their own plan design.
The GIC’s size and its support from the Commonwealth allow it to keep cost increases in check and help to provide some stability to municipal budgets. Many of the reform’s advantages were discussed at the December 1st MAPC forum with GIC Executive Director Dolores Mitchell and mayors, managers, and HR directors from cities and towns across the Commonwealth. It was an opportunity to discuss the current status of municipal health insurance reform and the challenges faced by municipalities that are part of or are considering joining the GIC. The consistent theme of the comments was that the reforms have helped municipalities save money, and that the GIC has been an excellent partner to its municipal members.
If your municipality has not yet joined the GIC or used the other options made available by municipal health insurance reform, we recommend that you consider doing so. Learn more about municipal health insurance reform in the MAPC region here, and learn about municipalities joining the GIC here.
— Jennifer R. Garcia and Nicholas Downing, MAPC Government Affairs Division