LONG BEACH - Hundreds of teachers are expected to gather this evening at the Long Beach school district's Board of Education meeting to voice opposition to proposed changes to their health benefits.

Members of the Teachers Association of Long Beach are expected to be clad in black, and holding signs at the 1515 Hughes Way facility to show support for the union in talks over changes to their labor contract.

"We have the members ready to go,' said union President Tony Diaz, who said he expects 1,000 teachers to show up.

The district and the union have reached an impasse in talks over changes to health benefits that would drop two of union members' current health plans and add an alternative, resulting in an increase in prescription drug costs but the opportunity to stay with the same doctor.

The change, which would save $4 million annually, is needed to deal with a fiscal crisis, district officials say.

"We've always supported high-quality health care for teachers and will continue to do so,' said Superintendent Chris Steinhauser. "In fact, we want to reduce employees' out-of-pocket expenses, provide even better coverage than before, and control excessive, outside middleman costs.'

But union leaders say the change would unfairly burden teachers.

"The bottom line is that teachers will be taking a salary cut,' Diaz said.

The two sides are scheduled to hold their first mediation session on Wednesday.

Under the district's proposal, the Blue Shield HMO and PacifiCare plans would be dropped. As a result, those employees formerly with PacifiCare would begin paying for office visits.

Those now enrolled in the current Blue Shield PPO option would see their annual deductibles jump from $150 to $250 for individuals, and from $300 to $500 for families.

Employees enrolled in three of the four plans offered would see their prescription drug costs go up, from $2 to $5 for generics, and from $5 to $10 for brand names, and would pay $35 to get a name-brand drug if a generic were also available. The fourth plan's drug costs would go up by $2.50.

The proposal also would offer a new health plan that pays only for visits to doctors in the plan's network, but allows patients to see specialists without going through a primary care "gatekeeper.' The plan has no deductible and charges $5 for doctors' visits.

After two months of negotiations, the two sides reached an impasse in December around the same time the district finalized a deal with its other major union, the California School Employees Association, that implemented the same health plan changes now being proposed for teachers.