Wareham accepted into Mayflower Health Group
Wareham has been formally accepted into the Mayflower Municipal Health Group as of last week, according to Town Administrator Derek Sullivan.
At a meeting in April, Sullivan said this is a step that could potentially save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
"This could be a substantial savings to the town, but also would give us stability in the budget in the coming years," said Selectman Alan Slavin at the same meeting.
The Mayflower Municipal Health Group is a municipal joint purchase group for health, dental and life insurance that organized on July 1, 2008. The group has 35 governmental units with 10,000 subscribers and over 18,000 members.
The Plymouth-based Health Group is governed by a general board comprised of one representative from each of the 35 governmental units in the group. Wareham was accepted into the group by a vote of 27-3.
According to the group's website, the Wareham and Onset Fire Districts are both members of the Mayflower Health Group.
Sullivan said health insurance rates aren't the only area where the town is saving money.
"When we look what's coming down the pike with Obamacare there are so many changes coming we most likely would have to hire additional staff just to keep up with them," said Sullivan. "I'm very happy we've been able to get this done and look forward to saving the taxpayers money with this."