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Both AAUP-WSU and the administration wish to change Article 26, Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance. The administration put forth its proposal on Friday, April 4 (see the table immediately below); AAUP-WSU will offer a counter-proposal shortly. Current language proposed for deletion is shown in the strikethrough format, and proposed new language is shown in the red underlined format. For comparison, you may wish to view the entire current CBA and this article in particular.
For more about bargaining now under way toward a successor of our current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), please see our Negotiations page. There, you will find rosters of our Bargaining Council and Negotiating Team, a table showing the status of each article (those in the current CBA and new ones, too), and also reports about each negotiating session.
For reports on negotiations regarding this article, click here (or scroll to the bottom of the table immediately below).
| AAUP-WSU Proposal for Article 26, Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance | Administration Proposal for Article 26, Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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26.1 Medical Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with medical insurance coverages through UnitedHealthcare, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, or other provider(s) with substantially the same level of benefits as provided July 1, 200 57, except that as of July 1, 2009 the lifetime maximum benefit where applicable will be raised to $10 million. These benefits are summarized in Appendix E.
26.2 Dental Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with dental insurance benefits through Delta Dental Plan of Ohio or other group insurance provider with substantially the same level of benefits as those that were provided on July 1,
2005
2007, but with the following changes effective January 1,
2006
2009: 26.3 Vision Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with vision insurance benefits through Vision Service Plan or other group insurance provider with substantially the same level of benefits as those that were provided on July 1, 2005 2007. These benefits are summarized in Appendix E. 26.4 To receive medical, dental and vision insurance coverages a Member must provide all necessary information requested on the Health Care Enrollment/Change form. 26.5 The University will offer the same benefits to all domestic partners of Bargaining Unit Faculty Members as it does to the spouses of Members, and at the same cost. To be eligible to receive such benefits, a Member and domestic partner must declare and document their domestic partnership by completing and signing an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership. 26.4 26.6 Employee Premium Contributions for Health Care Coverage: The University will provide the Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance coverages as described in Sections 26.1-26.3 to Bargaining Unit Faculty Members for a single monthly employee contribution. 26.6.1 The monthly premium contribution to be paid by a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member for the remainder of the calendar year 2008 shall be as shown in the table below.
26.6.2 The monthly premium contribution to be paid by a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member in the calendar year 2009 shall be determined by increasing the contributions shown in the table in section 26.6.1 by the same percentage increase in salaries agreed upon in sections 23.1 and 23.1.1; this percentage shall be determined as the sum of two percentages:
where n1, n2, n3, and T are defined as follows, using the data provided to AAUP-WSU in fall, 2007 in accordance with section 8.8.1 of the predecessor of this Agreement:
and where
26.6.3 The monthly premium contribution to be paid by a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member in the calendar year 2010 shall be determined by increasing the contributions specified in section 26.6.2 by the same percentage increase in salaries agreed upon in sections 23.2, 23.2.1, and 23.2.2; this percentage shall be determined as the sum of three percentages:
26.6.4 The monthly premium contribution to be paid by a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member in the calendar year 2011 shall be determined by increasing the contributions specified in section 26.6.3 by the same percentage increase in salaries agreed upon in sections 23.3, 23.3.1, and 23.3.2; this percentage shall be determined as the sum of three percentages:
26.5 The University will offer each Bargaining Unit Faculty Member the option to enroll in the National Ear Care Plan, or an equivalent plan if available, providing an annual hearing screening and discounts on the cost of hearing aids and certain hearing testing. The Bargaining Unit Faculty Member will pay any enrollment fee for the Plan. 26.6 The University is committed to providing adequate service for faculty through the adopted health care coverage. An individual in Human Resources will be responsible for assisting Bargaining Unit Faculty in any claims disputes or for obtaining coverage from the designated carriers. 26.7 If the University is considering a change in carriers, the AAUP-WSU will be given an opportunity to suggest criteria for RFPs. In the event that the University solicits RFPs, the AAUP-WSU will be given an opportunity to recommend to the University which proposals should be accepted or rejected. The AAUP-WSU acknowledges that such decisions are often made in a very short time frame and agrees to respond promptly with its recommendations so that the University's processes are not delayed. 26.8 Domestic Partner Benefits. In the event that the Ohio Supreme Court issues a full and final decision that holds that state universities may extend benefits to domestic partners without violating the Ohio Constitution or any Ohio Statute in effect, the University and the AAUP-WSU will reopen negotiations for the extension of benefits to domestic partners. |
26.1 Medical Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with medical insurance coverages through UnitedHealthcare, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, or other provider(s) with substantially the same level of benefits as provided July 1June 30, 20052008. In addition, the University will provide, beginning January 1, 2009 and continuing for the duration of this Agreement, the opportunity for Bargaining Unit Faculty Members to enroll in a plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) as an alternative to the other medical plans offered. These benefits are summarized in Appendix E. 26.2 Dental Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with dental insurance benefits through Delta Dental Plan of Ohio or other group insurance provider with substantially the same level of benefits as those that were provided on July 1, 2005June 30, 2008., but with the following changes effective January 1, 2006: 100% coverage for exams, emergency palliative treatment, prophylaxes (cleanings), X-rays, and sealants with Delta Preferred Option and Delta Premier dentists. These benefits are summarized in Appendix E. 26.3 Vision Insurance. For the duration of this Agreement, the University will provide Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with vision insurance benefits through Vision Service Plan or other group insurance provider with substantially the same level of benefits as those that were provided on July 1, 2005June 30, 2008. These benefits are summarized in Appendix E. 26.4 Employee Premium Contributions for Health Care Coverage: . The University will provide the Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance coverages as described in Sections 26.1-26.3 to Bargaining Unit Faculty Members for a single monthly employee contribution. 26.4.1 For the period July 1 to December 31, 2008, monthly employee contributions for Bargaining Unit Faculty Members will continue as they were as of June 30, 2008 for the Anthem “Blue Access” PPO, the Anthem “Blue Preferred Primary” HMO, and the Anthem “Blue Traditional” plans. 26.4.2 For the calendar year beginning January 1, 2009, monthly contributions will be as indicated in the following chart for Bargaining Unit Faculty Members with Annualized Full-time Equivalent Earning Rates as listed: 26.4.1 The monthly premium contribution to be paid by a Bargaining Unit Faculty Member shall be as shown in the table below. In the table, the year 2005 refers to July 1 through December 31, 2005; otherwise, years marked in the table are calendar years (January 1 through December 31). 26.4.3 Eligible dependents for purposes of health care coverage are the Member’s spouse; the Member’s domestic partner; the unmarried child, including a stepchild or adopted child of the Member, of the Member’s spouse or domestic partner, or for whom the Member, the Member’s spouse or the Member’s domestic partner is the legal guardian. Determination of dependent eligibility shall be consistent with criteria used beginning January 2007.
26.5 For the calendar years beginning January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011, health care employee contributions for any category of enrollment from the foregoing chart will not increase in a percentage greater than the percentage which health care costs for the University exceed health care costs for the previous year. 26.56 The University will offer each Bargaining Unit Faculty Member the option to enroll in the National Ear Care Plan, or an equivalent plan if available, providing an annual hearing screening and discounts on the cost of hearing aids and certain hearing testing. The Bargaining Unit Faculty Member will pay any enrollment fee for the Plan. 26.67 The University is committed to providing adequate service for faculty through the adopted health care coverage. An individual in Human Resources will be responsible for assisting Bargaining Unit Faculty in any claims disputes or for obtaining coverage from the designated carriers. 26.78 If the University is considering a change in carriers, the AAUP-WSU will be given an opportunity to suggest criteria for RFPs. In the event that the University solicits RFPs, the AAUP-WSU will be given an opportunity to recommend to the University which proposals should be accepted or rejected. The AAUP-WSU acknowledges that such decisions are often made in a very short time frame and agrees to respond promptly with its recommendations so that the University's processes are not delayed. 26.8 Domestic Partner Benefits. In the event that the Ohio Supreme Court issues a full and final decision that holds that state universities may extend benefits to domestic partners without violating the Ohio Constitution or any Ohio Statute in effect, the University and the AAUP-WSU will reopen negotiations for the extension of benefits to domestic partners. |
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Please see ...... the April, 2008 issue of our Right Flier newsletter for articles “Are You Ready?” by chapter President Anna Bellisari, and also “A Primer on Health Savings Accounts” and “Where Things Stand in Negotiations” by Chief Negotiator Rudy Fichtenbaum; and likewise the late-April special edition for an article “What Did the Administration Know and When Did They Know It?” reporting on recent developments in negotiations. You may also want to visit the U.S. Treasury Department’s site about HSAs. |
Please see the May 2 report on our page about Article 23 (Compensation) for the day’s disturbing developments about the intertwined issues of salary and medical benefits.
Dr. Matthew V. Filipic, Wright State’s Senior Vice President for Business and Fiscal Affairs, attended this negotiating session on behalf of the administration. The administration opened the session with Dr. Filipic’s description of rising health insurance costs. Dr. Filipic reported that over the past year, the cost of claims per member per month rose by 20%, and likewise that Anthem (the company with which Wright State contracts for health insurance coverage) is asking for a 23.45% rate hike for the coming fiscal year, an increase of more than $4 million, in comparison to increases averaging about $1.7 million annually for the past four or five years.
Dr. Filipic provided this data as a context for the administration’s Health Saving Account (HSA) plan; see the column “Anthem High Deductible Plan with a Health Savings Account” in the table in section 26.4.3 above, and also Appendix E. He stated that he is ambivalent about HSAs and acknowledged that HSA plans, while intended to lessen unnecessary medical expenses, could equally well discourage the use of medical services that one would not want to discourage. Dr. Filipic likewise stated that a portion of the 23% rate increase was clearly due to a “one time freak occurrence” and also that there are no long term studies showing the long term consequences of HSA plans.
Our Negotiating Team responded with some of our own analyses of the reasons for increasing health insurance costs, the university’s financial status, and the university’s spending priorities.
In the article “Where Things Stand in Negotiations” in the April, 2008 issue of our Right Flier newsletter, you will learn that the Ohio Board of Regents indicates that the WSU administration added 311 more full time employees between 2002 and 2007, and for each additional Bargaining Unit Faculty Member the administration hired six other full time employees! This mass of new full time employees explains a significant part of the health insurance cost increase, and the dramatic imbalance between Bargaining Unit Faculty and other employees reflects the university’s spending priorities.
Our team noted that the university’s net income (one might call this profit) this past year was about $4.1 million. We explained in detail that if the administration had constrained the rate of growth in non-academic spending 2002-2007 to the same rate as it permitted for the academic core, the net income would instead have been $11.8 million. In other words, the university would be not just financially healthy (which it certainly is -- again see the April Right Flier) but swimming in funds, had non-academic spending been reasonably controlled.
Later in the bargaining session, the administration confirmed that it proposed no change in the maintenance drug program that we now have.
Our team reminded the administration that improvements in benefits had occured at Wright State only due to pressure from our union, and we expressed disappointment that the administration was now pushing a draconian health care plan (HSAs). Instead of pushing HSAs, which can dissuade people from obtaining medical care they need, Wright State should offer a plan that provides incentives for individuals to improve their health and reduce medical care costs in that constructive way. Specifically, we pointed to Ohio State University’s “Faculty and Staff Incentive Program” that provides a $10 per month discount on medical insurance contribution rates just for completing a confidential Personal Health Assessment (PHA), and up to $125 per year in incentives for participating in such activities as attending health-related workshops or viewing webcasts; obtaining physical, dental, or vision exams; getting a flu shot; exercising; or monitoring your blood pressure.
Please see the April 11 report on our page for Article 23 (Compensation), for an important analysis regarding overall compensation (salary and benefits combined).
In submitting the above opening proposal for Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance, our team explained to the administration that our proposal calls for increases in what Bargaining Unit Faculty would pay for this coverage to match the increases in salary provided by Article 23; this is the implication of sections 26.6.2 - 26.6.4. Our proposal also would raise lifetime maximum medical benefits in certain plans to $10 million (presently $5 million in the Anthem PPO) and the annual maximum for non-orthodontic dental services to $2,000 (presently $1,000); see sections 26.1 - 26.2.
When it submitted the proposal above, the administration stated that it was suggesting a “pretty dramatic change” in health care policy. The heart of this change is a new option in health care coverage, a so-called “High Deductible Health Plan with Health Savings Account”, an outline of which is shown in Appendix E. AAUP-WSU will provide an in-depth description of this proposal, and its effect in combination with the administration's salary proposal (Article 23, Compensation) and inflation. Here, let us simply say that our first estimate of the administration's health care proposal is this: the proposal would be equivalent to an immediate 3.3% reduction in salary.
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This page was last modified on May 3, 2008. Corrections, comments, and suggestions are most welcome. Contact the webmaster for this page (Jim Vance) at jvance@math.wright.edu, telephone 937-775-2206.
