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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday pressed the case for legislation to place all public school employees under a single health insurance plan as a way to slow the growth in property school taxes. The bill, newly introduced after about two years of work, would create a 12-member board to forge one insurance plan for all the state's school districts. Currently most districts buy individual group policies. The aim is to suppress increases in health care costs -- and the property taxes that pay for school employee benefits -- by spreading risk more widely and lowering school administrative costs. All but one of the 501 school districts would be required to go along with it; Philadelphia would have the option of joining in. Rendell said the use of regional pricing may resolve districts' concerns about paying more under a unified state plan than they now pay, and the state would pay up to half of the year-to-year increase in health insurance premiums. But he xalso suggested that districts will have to make some sacrifices. "Everybody out there has to understand that we've got to cut costs in every single way possible," Rendell said.
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