Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 32B, § 7 (2026)

Premiums; withholding, contribution; direct payment

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 7. (a) With respect to any period of insurance which is in effect for an active or retired employee and dependent there shall be withheld from each payment of salary, wages, other compensation, pension or retirement allowance, subject to the provisions of section nine A, fifty per cent of the premium for the insurance of the employee and his dependents and the governmental unit shall contribute the remaining fifty per cent of such premium. The governmental unit shall also contribute fifty per cent of any additional premium which may be required for coverage of an employee's dependent child who is nineteen years of age or over and mentally or physically incapable of earning his own living.

(b) If an employee is entitled to receive, during a calendar month, salary, wages or other compensation, and the premium has not been withheld from said salary, wages or other compensation, he may continue his insurance in effect by paying directly to the governmental unit the premium which would otherwise have been deducted from his salary or wages and said governmental unit shall contribute the remaining fifty per cent of the cost of the premium. If an employee is not entitled to receive salary, wages or other compensation for a calendar month, for purposes of this chapter, he shall be deemed to have been granted a leave of absence without pay, and shall make payment for the entire cost of his insurance to the governmental unit as aforesaid, and there shall be no contribution by the governmental unit for such employee's insurance. If an employee is not entitled to receive salary, wages or other compensation for any calendar month, due to illness of such employee and not because of illness of his immediate family, for purposes of this chapter he shall be deemed to have been granted sick leave without pay, and subject to the rules and regulations of the appropriate public authority, said employee shall make payment for fifty per cent of the cost of his insurance to the treasurer of the governmental unit, and such governmental unit shall contribute the remaining fifty per cent of said premium.

(c) All amounts withheld from an employee's salary, wages or other compensation as provided in paragraph (a) of this section and all amounts paid by an employee as provided in paragraph (b) of this section and all amounts withheld from retired employees as retirement allowances under the provisions of section nineteen A of chapter thirty-two together with the contribution of the governmental unit as provided in paragraph (a) shall be paid by the treasurer of the governmental unit to the carrier or carriers entitled to the premium.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 9 cases, 1977–2020 · leading case: Yeretsky v. City of Attleboro, 424 Mass. 315 (Mass. 1997).

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Yeretsky v. City of Attleboro, 424 Mass. 315 (Mass. 1997). · cites it 3× “See G. L. c. 32B, §§ 7, 7A, 9, 9A, 9E, and 16.”

Ludlow Educ. Ass'n v. Town of Ludlow, 575 N.E.2d 359 (Mass. App. Ct. 1991). · cites it 2× “At least since 1983, according to uncontradicted affidavits, the town offered both types of plans to the class, an indemnity plan pursuant to G. L. c. 32B, § 3, and an HMO plan pursuant to G.”

Brooks v. Sch. Comm., 360 N.E.2d 647 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977). · cites it 2× “Cities____” Fifty percent of the applicable premiums was paid by the city (the other fifty percent having been paid by the plaintiffs) pursuant to G. L. c. 32B, § 7, which provides that the city and its employees each pay fifty percent of the premium; and (possibly, though it is…”

Sch. Comm. of Medford v. LABOR RELATIONS COMM, 392 N.E.2d 541 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). · cites it 2× “nt employees about a demand for more than a fifty percent contribution to group health and life insurance premiums? Acting on cross motions for summary judgment, a Superior Court judge entered judgment ordering the school committee of Medford (the school committee) to bargain…”

Larson v. Sch. Comm. of Plymouth, 723 N.E.2d 497 (Mass. 2000). · cites it 2× “5 The judge reasoned, in substance, that, because the effective date of the plaintiff’s accidental disability retirement, as set by the board (June 5, 1992), preceded the date of dismissal (June 16, 1992), the plaintiff was an employee retired pursuant to G. L. c. 32B, § 7, and…”

Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen & Helpers Union, Local No. 59 v. Town of Chatham, 535 N.E.2d 597 (Mass. 1989). “32B from contributing to more than one indemnity-type group health insurance policy, we do not accept Teamsters’ further assertion that Chatham should contribute to coverage under the Teamsters plan in the same dollar amount as it now contributes to the Aetna plan.”

Uniformed Firefighters of Ludlow, Local 1840 v. Bd. of Selectmen, 556 N.E.2d 1040 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990). “On September 14, 1988, the plaintiffs filed a complaint against the Ludlow selectmen based upon a change, which took effect on July 1, 1988, in Ludlow’s plan to provide its employees with health insurance under G. L. c. 32B, § 7. 2 Before the change was adopted, , Ludlow…”

Middleborough Gas & Elec. Dep't v. Town of Middleborough, 721 N.E.2d 936 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000). “203, § 2. Instead, the effect of the new subsection was to authorize governmental units to provide three kinds of insurance without making the fifty percent contribution toward the premium that § 7 otherwise requires.”

Boss v. Town of Leverett (Mass. 2020). “" See 8 G. L. c. 32B, §§ 7, 7A, 9E.7 Boss emphasizes that a town's § 9A contributions encompass fifty percent of the total premium costs of the retiree's insurance plan, not just an individual's premium costs.”

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