dillonAndy Dillion, speaker of the Michigan House, says he has a plan to save the state nearly $1 billion. But representatives of the Michigan Education Association says the plan is “cost neutral.”

Dillion, a Redford Township Democrat, proposed the following:

* Consolidate the planning, delivery and administration of health care for Michigan’s public sector employees and retirees under the Office of the State Employer, increasing efficiency and enabling the state to obtain more competitive pricing in plans and prescription drugs.

* Standardize coverage to allow all public employees and retirees to choose from the same set of health care plans, which will be more closely aligned with those offered in the private sector.

* Ensure that all health care plans serving public sector employees and retirees follow best medical practices, which will increase patient safety and prevent unnecessary treatment.

In a press statement Dillion said, “By making the same plans available to everyone – from the local bus driver to the Governor – we will save Michigan taxpayers $900 million a year, preserve health care coverage for our workers and save jobs.”

But officials at MEA are unconvinced. In their own press release, Doug Pratt, the MEA’s director of communications, said, “Why on earth would anyone believe the state could run anything efficiently when it can’t even pass a balanced budget? Why would public school employees trust the health of their families to a state bureaucracy in Lansing?”

Public school employees, Pratt said, “are already part of health insurance pools, and those employees have already delivered hundreds of millions in savings by accepting lower salaries, cuts to benefits and sharing in the cost of care. Creating an even larger pool becomes cost neutral and when you add in the expense of managing this new health care plan, the savings disappear entirely.”

Dillon countered by saying in his press release that the health care benefits of public employees are currently more expensive than other plans:

Currently, employees and retirees across Michigan participate in hundreds of different health care plans offered by the state as well as counties, cities, townships, school districts and other local units of government. Each plan differs in costs and quality and assesses its own administrative fees. Studies show that Michigan’s public sector employees and retirees generally receive health care benefits that are more generous and more expensive than their counterparts in other states and in Michigan’s private sector.

Dillon says this is the first in a series of cost cutting proposals the Democratic-controlled House will be unveiling in the coming weeks on their new website. The cuts are in response to a projected budget gap of $1.8 million.