After earning a masters’ degree, Kyle Saari, a fifth-grade teacher at Negaunee Public Schools, was excited to receive a 5% raise. But that excitement was quickly tempered when Saari, who’s a type 1 diabetic with two children at home, said he had to put most of that money toward increasing healthcare costs.
“It was hundreds of dollars more per month that we would be responsible for,” Saari said.
Saari is one of 1,700 participants in a survey by the Michigan Education Association — the state's largest teachers union — which found that 80% of respondents are paying more for out-of-pocket healthcare costs since January.
Survey respondents, who reported seeing an average yearly increase of $2,400 in healthcare costs, include teachers and support staff across K-12 schools and higher education levels.
A state law passed in 2011 limits the amount public employers can pay toward employees’ medical benefit plans. A bill that passed in the last legislative session aimed to ensure a public employer would cover at least 80% of the total cost of health care plans, but it was one of nine bills held from Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk when Republicans took leadership of the House in January.
Michigan Court of Claims judge Seema Patel ruled in February that, under the state constitution, the bills should be presented to the governor, but she was reluctant to issue an order to the legislative branch. Her ruling also does not designate a person responsible for complying with the state constitution.
“Michigan courts have declined to interpret and enforce internal rules of the Legislature in the past, and the Court finds good reason to follow such precedent here,” the ruling reads.
State Representative Mai Xiong (D-Warren) sponsored the bill to raise public employers' contributions to employees' health care plans. She said organizations that represent public employees, like the Michigan AFL-CIO and the Michigan Education Association, have been calling her office to hear about the bill’s status.
Xiong said she worries that educators will leave for the private sector. “If these workers don’t get the benefit and the salary that they are worth and that they need … they will go and work for a private company and we will lose them,” she said.
Opponents of the bill are concerned that if passed, it will place a burden on the employer, Xiong said.
“That’s something we have to work with our appropriations committee members as we would through this budget process to make sure that they have the resources they need to cover this cost.”
In recent years, Michigan has invested record funding into recruiting and retaining teachers. Like Saari, some teachers have reported wage increases, but said health care costs are making it difficult to stay in the job.
“Just being an educator myself," Saari said, "if I were new to the profession, it would be very, very difficult to stay afloat or get ahead financially, simply due to the fact that you’re seeing double-digit increases in healthcare (costs)."
The survey, conducted online during July and August, found 29% of respondents switched health insurance plans due to cost increases. Most of those people reported they were still paying higher deductible costs, and over half said they were paying more for prescriptions.
The nine bills in limbo are scheduled for oral arguments in the Michigan Court Appeals on September 9. Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the Democratic-controlled state Senate, did not respond to a request for comment.
