The teachers’ union of SMUHSD is working with the school district to find a more affordable healthcare plan due to the rising healthcare costs. While they are working on this currently, nothing is permanent, and the whole discussion is still ongoing.
Because of the rising healthcare costs, the district may not be able to cover the employees’ full healthcare, leaving the union and the district to work together to either cut costs from other departments or find a different healthcare option. A projected 30% cost increase for a staff of over 1,000 employees would present a significant budget challenge.
As Steven Wang, co-building president for the Mills High School teachers union, stated, “Starting 2026, the quotes, or the prices that we’re being told it’s going to be, are increasing for our district, like 25% which is a lot of money, equates to millions of dollars.”
According to Wang, the past and current healthcare contracts between the district and union covered all premiums and helped to maintain co-pays, or out-of-pocket fees, at a “low and affordable” rate. However, this will not be the case in 2026.
The effects of rising healthcare costs will not just affect the district. If the union and SMUHSD are unable to find a solution to this, it will negatively impact the teachers. Wang expressed a potential scenario: “Since premiums are increasing, as much as thousands of dollars per family per month, the potential impact on teachers would be having to pay out of pocket each month to subsidize the new higher premiums, and/or having much higher co-pays when they actually go in to get medical care.”
When talking to Mrs. Kovacs, a Mills High School math teacher, she expressed her opinion on the situation by saying, “If I can’t afford to comfortably live here, then I might seek a different location to live where I could, like actually, start a family and have a house and do that kind of thing. And so I do think it is a pretty serious consideration, and it could have a big impact on teacher retention and who’s able to stay in the area and continue to teach here.”
