Local gov'ts get ahead of state policy on curbing health care costs, Ivacko says

Tom Ivacko was quoted by The (Southgate, MI) News-Herald on how Michigan's local governments have responded to various fiscal challenges.

Ivacko, program manager of the Ford School-based Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), said public employees are increasingly put in positions that ask them to pay for a greater share of their health care costs.

"Reducing health care benefits were one of the most common approaches local governments were taking on their own to address the local government (fiscal) crisis," Ivacko told The News-Herald. "They were certainly not waiting on direction from the state to address health care costs."