Educators call on Legislature to control costs, create statewide health insurance pool for school employees
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CHRIS WILLIAMS
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ST. PAUL, Minnesota. Feb. 25, 2026 – Minnesota educators struggling with soaring health insurance premiums will testify Thursday before a state House committee considering legislation that would create a single, statewide insurance pool for all public school employees. The hearing begins at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in room G23 of the Minnesota State Capitol.
Rep. Liz Reyer, DFL-Eagan, is sponsoring House File 2904, which would establish the Educator Group Insurance Program, or EGIP, a large statewide health insurance pool for all public school employees. The bill is being heard by the House State Government Finance and Policy Committee.
Education Minnesota President Monica Byron said the status quo is no longer sustainable for educators or their families.
“Every year, school employees across Minnesota are forced to choose between wages and health insurance at the bargaining table because there isn’t enough money for both,” Byron said. “This bill changes that. By pooling every school employee in the state, we give educators the collective power they need to push back against an industry that has been dictating terms to small districts for far too long. The Legislature has the tools to fix this. We’re asking them to use them.”
HF 2904 creates a large, statewide health insurance pool for all public schools and their employees. Teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians and other school employees would all be eligible through their public school employer.
The EGIP pool would be overseen by Minnesota Management and Budget and modeled after the existing state employees’ group insurance program, known as SEGIP. The creation of the EGIP pool would create increased stability and predictability by spreading risk over a larger group.
A “hold harmless” provision would fund the difference between current district premium costs and costs under the new program.
Aaron Wilke, a middle school social studies teacher and union leader at Kasson-Mantorville who has spent a decade on his district’s health insurance selection committee, said premium increases have made contract negotiations nearly impossible.
“Over the last six years Kasson-Mantorville educators have seen an 11.1% average annual premium increase … and we are better off than many districts,” Wilke said in prepared testimony. “The cost of a current family health insurance premium at Kasson-Mantorville is around $36,000 a year depending on the selected plan. Assuming a 10% annual premium increase, a decade from now the premium for the same plan will cost about $93,000 a year. Who is going to pay for that?”
Wilke described colleagues who have been forced to go without coverage. “I have colleagues who had to quit insuring their families this year, I work with a special education director who considered not getting drugs for her cancer treatment,” he said. “I have personally put off medical treatment for years to avoid a $7,500 deductible that I simply cannot afford every year.”
Lori Goth, an education support professional, or ESP, in the St. Michael-Albertville School District, said her coverage has deteriorated over decades of underfunding and described the impossible situation her family faces.
“In bargaining, the district comes to the table, tells us what they have budgeted to spend on us and asks us whether we want it on wages or health insurance,” Goth said. “The state doesn’t give the districts enough money for both, so we’re asked to choose.”
Goth’s son Jacob developed a rare eye disease that requires medication not covered by her insurance. The covered alternative, a drug designed for children with cancer awaiting bone marrow transplants, costs $168 per month out of pocket and carries potential long-term side effects. “I work three jobs to pay for medical expenses, and my son may still lose his sight,” she said.
“I don’t want to be just one more sad story,” Goth said. “I want to help you put a face to a statewide problem. It’s not just me and my son who aren’t getting the care we need. ESPs in every district in the state are struggling to care for our families.”
In the summer of 2025, Education Minnesota polled its 84,000 members and found that health insurance costs were their top concern. Nine in 10 said every educator should have affordable, high-quality health insurance, but half said their coverage was not affordable, and 49% said they had put off medical care because it was too expensive.
Health insurance has strained contract negotiations statewide. Earlier this year, more than 3,200 teachers in Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest school district, were on the verge of a strike over insurance costs after their district was hit with a 22% premium increase.
LOGISTICS
Educators from across Minnesota will testify at the first House hearing on HF 2904 before the State Government Finance and Policy Committee. Reporters are encouraged to attend.
WHAT: House State Government Finance and Policy Committee hearing on HF 2904, the Educator Group Insurance Program
WHEN: 8:15 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026
WHERE: Room G23, Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul
About Education Minnesota
Education Minnesota is the voice for professional educators and students. Education Minnesota’s members include teachers and education support professionals in Minnesota’s public school districts, faculty members at Minnesota’s community and technical colleges and University of Minnesota campuses in Duluth and Crookston, retired educators and student teachers. Education Minnesota is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.
