Charlton Finance Committee backs $7,000 employee health insurance buyout amid trust crisis

CHARLTON — August 20, 2025 — Charlton Finance Committee signals support for a $7,000 employee health insurance buyout as the town faces a roughly $585,000 cost increase from back-to-back 20 percent premium hikes. Town Administrator Ashley Sherrill told the four-member committee at its August 20 meeting that the Hampshire County Group Insurance Trust, a 73-community cooperative, has watched its reserves fall from over $30 million to under $5 million after GLP-1 weight-loss drugs cost the trust $2 million to $3 million a month and large medical claims roughly doubled. The trust voted a second 20 percent increase effective October 1, following a 20 percent increase that took effect July 1, leaving Charlton few options short of July 1, 2026, the earliest a carrier switch is realistic. The committee verbally endorsed a proposal to offer non-union employees a one-time $7,000 family-plan opt-out payment — saving the town roughly $19,000 per departing employee — while the town waits for its individual claims data from the trust, which is required before any competing insurance quote can be obtained.