By Chris Lewis | Vol. 12 No. 26 (December 18, 2019)
The Town of Bay Bulls is looking to save a little money when it comes to employee health insurance costs.
The topic came up at the December 9 council meeting because the town’s current plan with TRIO Health had the possibility of being extended to councillors. Town Manager Jennifer Aspell explained that if the Town accepted the offer, every councillor would have to be included in the basic life insurance coverage, but could opt out if they have health and dental insurance provided in their own personal coverages.
This caused some councillors to ponder whether they could reduce the Town’s overall costs by exploring other options.
The current plan falls under an agreement offered through Municipalities NL (MNL). Aspell said TRIO offers specific packages for municipalities.
Both councillor Evelyn Tucker and Deputy Mayor Wendy O’Driscoll asked whether or not the town had reached out to other providers, such as Blue Cross or Manulife.
“I think that’s certainly something we should look into, just to see what the differences are,” O’Driscoll said.
However, other councillors in the room, Mayor Harold Mullowney included, doubted the possibility of finding a better deal than what the town currently has with TRIO.
“TRIO is also the only one that has an agreement with Municipalities NL. So, that’s why we went there and did not really shop around,” Aspell said. “I can’t speculate as to what the other rates might be.”
She added that not only does TRIO’s plan come from an agreement with MNL, it also includes coverage for towns with less than three employees.
Council ultimately decided that it could not hurt to get some comparison quotes from both Blue Cross and Sun Life, and the motion to do some insurance shopping was carried unanimously.
