Ithaca (WSYR-TV) - With health care costs soaring, governments in Tompkins County have come together to take a bold step to save taxpayers money and maintain existing levels of benefits for public employees.
Various villages and towns and other municipalities have aligned with one another to form the Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium.
It has taken them about four years to pull it all together and become the first municipalities in New York to put a new health consortium together since a state law changed to allow it in the mid 90s. Some think the strategy could be a model for other municipalities around New York State.
"Getting beyond the turf issues, thinking about the common good and how they can save money, that's was the glue that held this together during some very difficult times," said Tompkins County Administrator Joe Mareane.
When the new consortium takes effect on January 1, Mareane says it will save taxpayers almost $1 million. 13 of the 17 municipalities in Tompkins County will be part of the new consortium.
"We are writing insurance, so we set up our own plans and those plans are set up so that no employee or retiree has a reduction in benefits and those plans will not change, unless we make a conscious effort to change it, so we control not only the benefits but also the costs," said Chair Council of Governments Don Barber.
The Village of Lansing is one of the four municipalities in Tompkins County that has decided not to take part in this health consortium. Barber said that the Village is waiting to see how the plan takes shape.
"Once we achieve that initial base line savings that savings level continues forever, it also gives all of us in these governments an opportunity to look at things like wellness programs maybe we couldn't afford to do it on our own," County Administrator Mareane said.
Barber believes the consortium could provide a blueprint for other groups of municipalities. "One of the things that i think is so exciting about this initiative is that we've finally blazed a pathway through so anybody can do this," he said.
The Tompkins County Municipal Health Insurance Consortium will cover over 2,000 people. Both Mareane and Barber say other counties are working on similar health consortiums, including Monroe County.
