Former Planning Board member Tom Magauran has asked the Board of Selectmen to end a policy that allows of two elected officials to receive health benefits through the town, 13 years after the practice was discontinued.

“There is not reason for these individuals not to get their health care from the same places available to my family, or the rest of the state,” Magauran wrote in a letter sent to selectmen sent May 17. “The only reason these individuals do not do so, is that this is a savings to them personally.”

On Tuesday, he appeared before Selectmen at their regular meeting. That night, board members elected Jonathan Dickerson as the new chairman. Dickerson said he would not accept questions from the  public until all agenda items had been addressed. “I think discussion delayed, is discussion denied,” Magauran said.

He then asked for the board to consider the his letter and take action to end the practice.

Board members did not have a response for Magauran regarding his letter at that time.

At Marion’s annual Town Meeting in 2000, residents did vote to remove those benefits, which gave every elected official the opportunity to join the town’s health insurance plan.

However, two officials have been “grandfathered” into the practice, Finance Director and Town Accountant Judith Mooney told Magauran at last week’s Town Meeting. If the board doesn’t act to remove the benefits, Magauran said those individuals should be identified to inform voters. At Town Meeting, Mooney told him disclosing those names would violate health information privacy laws.

Magauran said that reason was “nonsense.” Identifying the individuals receiving health benefits is not akin to asking health specific questions, he said.

To be sure of that, Magauran called  the selectmen to seek a legal opinion on the matter. Recent reforms to healthcare laws mean the original reasons for allowing the  officials to remain on the plan no longer exist, Magauran said. Namely, a insurance company’s right to deny applicants coverage due to pre-existing conditions has been eliminated. Ending those benefits will save the town money, Magauran said, noting the amount is approximately $16,600.

“This is a savings to them. By burdening taxpayers in a way that we have already said is not available to elected officials,” he wrote.