NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The towns and school districts in Berkshire Health Group will see an 8.75 percent increase in health insurance premiums in the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

 

Ten of the 12 voting members on the BHG board decided Wednesday morning at McCann Technical School on a vote of 8-2 to set the health plan rates for municipal employees in the member towns and districts.

 

The hike is a little more than half of the 16 percent increase the joint purchase group enacted for the current fiscal year.

 

Wednesday's decision will come as welcome news to town managers and administrators and school superintendents who may have been fearing a repeat of FY26, but the 8.75 percent hike still likely will constrain the spending decisions that officials will be making over the next few months as they prepare to send budgets to town meetings across the county this spring.

 

The main decision point for the BHG board on Wednesday morning: how to cover Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or GLP-1 medications, commonly marketed under trade names like Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus.

 

The board decided that the weight-loss drugs no longer will be covered for all employees covered under BHG plans and will be covered only for those people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

 

Joseph Anderson of Gallagher Benefit Services told the Berkshire Health Group board members that demand for the GLP-1 medications has exploded in their member units in recent years.