Tired of waiting for the Texas legislature to act in addressing crippling health care costs affecting hundreds of thousands of Texas educators, the Raymondville Independent School District in deep South Texas has decided to act.
In a unanimous vote last night trustees voted to approve a commercial health plan in lieu of the TRS ActiveCare health plan, setting the district on a collision course with the state.
Another district is poised to follow.
The TRS ActiveCare program covers 90% of Texas school districts and more than 400,000 plan members. Districts enrolled in the program are prohibited from leaving and cannot offer a competing health plan.
This bold move should give trustees of the TRS Activecare program pause to re-evaluate their healthcare strategies rather than kick the can down the road with status quo solutions that don’t work.
This action by the Raymondville Independent School District will not go unnoticed in Austin.