A Limestone County teacher representative on Friday said he was “excited and delighted” by the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision to rule in favor of the AEA in a lawsuit over insurance premium increases enacted in 2016.

“AEA went to bat for the membership,” said Brian Terry, secretary of the Limestone County Education Association. “They’re the only organization that stood up for educators. We put our confidence in their legal team and they came through.”

The state’s Public Education Employees Health Insurance Plan, or PEEHIP, board increased premiums just four days after the Alabama Legislature announced it would include a 4-percent raise to teachers and support staff making less than $75,000 annually in its 2016-2017 budget. It was the first significant raise in seven years.

AEA claimed that back in 2016 PEEHIP’s board did not follow the state’s open meeting law when it increased premiums and spousal surcharges. PEEHIP claimed it did everything by the book.

The PEEHIP board’s decision effectively wiped out those raises. Terry said local teachers will now get their raises back. About $130 million has been sitting in an escrow account since the AEA filed suit against the PEEHIP board.

“We know the PEEHIP attorneys are working on how they’re going to disburse the money,” Terry said. “We speculate (the PEEHIP board) will not appeal.”

He explained teachers would receive different amounts, depending on their situation. For example, a surcharge was added for teachers whose spouse was included on the PEEHIP policy.

“Amounts could be anywhere from $350 to a couple thousand dollars, depending on the category,” Terry said.