Your Greensboro fire fighters report to their fire stations every day knowing that they’ll be subject to cancer-causing toxic smoke, back-breaking work, and mental stressors that can impact them for the rest of their lives. Despite all of these mental and physical risks endured by your fire fighters, they don’t have an official voice in the direction of their health care, vendor contracts, or services provided beyond annual employee surveys.

Health insurance in the city is a shared cost between employees and the city. In addition to ever-increasing co-pays and deductibles, employees contribute about 26 percent toward the overall health care spent in the form of “premium-like” monthly contributions. In 2018, the Professional Fire Fighters of Greensboro requested that Greensboro Human Resources Department establish a Healthcare Advisory Committee comprised of non-executive employees. This request was denied by the director of Human Resources.

Fire fighters deserve an official voice in their healthcare and a seat at the table when these critical decisions are made. There are innovative cost containment methods that are not currently being utilized in the city that should be explored. Tell the city that it’s good for the city and its taxpayers to provide high quality health care that features innovative cost containment methods.