School districts required to offer health insurance through WEA Trust, a company created by the teachers’ union, would save $68 million a year if employees could switch to the state health plan, Gov. Scott Walker said this week, repeating a claim he made last year.

“That’s one of the many examples of why it’s so critically important to change collective bargaining,” Walker said at a news conference Monday before bringing up the issue again in his public address Tuesday.

Madison-based WEA Trust, created by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, disputes the claim. The insurer says it provides lower-cost choices, and districts can already join the state health plan.

“It’s been an option for them for some time,” said WEA Trust spokesman Steve Lyons.

About 65 percent of the state’s school districts contract with WEA Trust, covering about 35 percent of school employees. Several large districts, including Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, don’t offer the plan.

Of those with WEA Trust, a third — 90 districts — have teacher union contracts that require the plan, Lyons said. In some other districts, contracts say coverage must be at least as good as the plan.

Cullen Werwie, Walker’s spokesman, said the $68 million figure is based on a 2005 study by the conservative-leaning Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, using updated information from last year.

Scott Niederjohn, author of the study, said the institute compared what districts pay with what they would pay if employees had the cheapest state health plan option; those plans vary by county.

But districts already have flexibility, Lyons said. They can negotiate out of requirements to offer WEA Trust or choose WEA Trust packages with higher deductibles or co-payments to reduce costs, he said. Unions likely would oppose such moves, however.

Furthermore, Lyons said, WEA Trust became part of the state health plan last year in 24 eastern counties.

The Madison School District, whose contract with Madison Teachers Inc. requires WPS Health Insurance to be offered, would save at least $4.2 million a year if the 31 percent of teachers with that plan switched to other available plans, said Bob Nadler, executive director of human resources.

Jefferson School District, about 30 miles east of Madison, preserved salary increases by joining the state health plan last year, said business administrator Laura Peachey. It had provided its own insurance, administered by WPS.