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Subject: Fwd: Health Insurance
We are currently working with our consultants and attorney. Attached is an EMail we sent to the LPS attorney Naomi Stonberg today. Francis J. McLaughlin Jr.
To
Subject Naomi, As you requested, I am sending this e-mail to reiterate our concerns about Health Insurance. Our first concern is the rates. They are through the roof – some went up as high at 27%. Even accounting for the 0% “increase” last year, these increases go way beyond the industry trends. Jack Sharry, the City’s consultant, on May 26 said he’d take “another” look at the rates and get back to us in a week. He got back to the City in a day saying they should keep them where they are. (And our understanding was that Jack was not even involved in setting the rates in the first place.) We haven’t seen any documentation – either the provider’s recommendation, or claim history – for us to take an informed position. Lacking that, we continue to feel that the City may not be acting in good faith. Our second concern is the open enrollment announcement/plans. At Noontoday, it was announced that the open enrollment period would only be from 4-7 on Wednesday and Thursday, both overlapping with union events. Even without the union events, this 48-hour notice will not give people enough time to review the rates or the plans (which have not yet been distributed). In addition, it will not give enough time for members to get necessary documentation (birth certificates and/or marriage certificates) to add dependents. While we wanted the open enrollment periods soon, we expected that the district would give people a reasonable timeframe to be able to make informed decisions about a very important issue. I hope you can address these concerns some way. Thanks, ____________________ Philip Katz Field Representative, AFT MA, AFL-CIO 38 Chauncy St, Suite 402 Boston, MA02111 tel: 617-423-3342 or 800-279-2523 e-mail: pkatz@aftma.net |
