Town votes to eliminate health insurance

This past Monday in Bridgewater, at the annual Town Meeting voters overwhelmingly voted to end stipends for 8 part-time elected town officials, because the cost of the health insurance associated with those stipends was too high. The town paid $18,000 in stipends, and more than $95,000 in health insurance. Under state law, elected officials who receive even modest annual stipends qualify for participation in their community's health plan at the same contribution rate as other municipal employees.

According to an article in the Boston Globe, “Eliminating the stipends, and thus eliminating the health insurance benefit, is one way cash-strapped towns are trying to save money.” It was reported that the town has been paying 90 percent of the premiums, as with its full-time employees. The average family plan that previously required a contribution of about $110 each month from the elected official will jump to over $1,000 per month.