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required to pay for their group health <br />benefits with the city should they <br />decide to continue them. The <br />Legislature must amend Minn. Stat. <br />§ 299A.465 to reflect that employees <br />are required to inform the city when <br />they become eligible for coverage <br />under another group plan and that <br />failure to do so is grounds for <br />termination from the benefits granted <br />under Minn. Stat. § 299A.465. <br />HR-12. Health Care Insurance <br />Programs <br />Issue: Cities, like other employers in the <br />state, are struggling with the rising costs of <br />health care insurance for their employees. In <br />addition, cities must cope with unfunded <br />mandates imposed on them by the <br />Legislature such as the requirement to pool <br />early retirees with active employees and the <br />requirement to bargain over changes in the <br />"aggregate value" of benefits, even when the <br />city's contribution has not changed. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports legislative efforts to <br />control health insurance costs while <br />maintaining quality health care services. <br />However, cities have differing local needs <br />and circumstances and must retain the <br />flexibility to provide unique and creative <br />solutions to the rising costs of health care <br />insurance for their employees. The <br />League: <br />a) Opposes legislative action that <br />undermines local flexibility to manage <br />rising health care costs. <br />b) Encourages the Legislature to <br />carefully examine the costs and <br />administrative impacts of any new, <br />mandated insurance -related benefit <br />before imposing it upon city <br />employers. <br />c) Supports changes to Minn. Stat. <br />§ 471.6161, subd. 5, that would clarify <br />the intent of the subdivision is to <br />address changes in cost vs. changes in <br />value (e.g., changes in provider <br />networks, changes in benefit levels <br />required by an incumbent insurance <br />carrier, changes required for <br />compliance with state and federal <br />laws, including those needed to avoid <br />incurring the federal excise tax known <br />as the "Cadillac Tax". <br />d) Supports changes to Minn. Stat. <br />§ 471.61 so that the requirement for <br />cities to offer retiree coverage begins <br />on the date the retiree and/or <br />dependents become eligible for federal <br />Medicare coverage. <br />e) Supports a clarification to Minn. Stat <br />§ 471.61 and to Minn. Stat. § 471.617 <br />to explicitly alleviate a city's <br />responsibility to comply with group <br />health benefits mandated by state law <br />when the city's employees are covered <br />under a union plan authorized by <br />federal statutes. <br />f} Supports statutory authorization for <br />cities to collect up to a two percent <br />administrative fee from retirees <br />receiving post -retirement health <br />insurance benefits. <br />Opposes any mandatory, centralized, <br />statewide health insurance option for <br />active or retired city employees. <br />h) Supports changing Minn. Stat. § <br />62A.21 to place reasonable limits on <br />health care continuation for former <br />spouses, similar to the Federal <br />COBRA law. <br />g) <br />HR-13. Workers' Compensation <br />Issue: Rising medical costs are an <br />increasingly serious problem for all <br />employers and insurers, and now represent <br />over half of all loss costs within the <br />workers' compensation system. Medical <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 88 <br />