Dartmouth Select Board Approves Health Insurance Switch Saving Employees Up to $11,000

Select Board · Meeting of March 30, 2026

Dartmouth Select Board unanimously approves health insurance overhaul projected to save employees and the town roughly $2 million annually. The board voted March 30 to authorize Town Administrator Cody Haddad to sign memorandums of understanding with all 11 collective bargaining groups, shifting coverage from the current carrier to the Southeastern Massachusetts Health Group while retaining Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, with rate decreases of 5 percent to 28 percent replacing a projected 8 percent increase. Families on the traditional HMO plan could save nearly $4,000 annually in premiums; employees switching to the high-deductible plan could save more than $9,000 after deductible exposure.

The board also unanimously adopted a compensation and classification study by HRS finding the town roughly 12.8 percent below market, voted to authorize a Massachusetts School Building Authority Statement of Interest for the Dartmouth Middle School as the first step in a capital plan the administration estimates at $400 million over 40 to 50 years, and honored outgoing 12-year member Stanley Mickelson in his final meeting.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of March 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.