Health fight ends in options
Jenny Marder
An eight-month battle over benefits that caused a rift between the
city and its employees ended Monday night when the city agreed to
offer more healthcare choices and shoulder more of the cost.
When the plan goes into effect on April 1, employees will get to
choose among three options: a Blue Shield PPO, a Blue Shield HMO or a
Kaiser Permanente HMO. The dental and vision insurance plans remain
unchanged.
The new medical plans will replace what a city PPO and an HMO
administered by Health Net, which employees complained was a small
network that many doctors don’t accept.
The city will also share the burden of an additional $470,000 per
year of the healthcare costs. The City Council voted Dec. 15 to cut
four positions that had been left vacant in anticipation of another
hit to the city’s budget and an annual department audit. That money
will be put toward employees’ health benefits.
Assistant City Administrator Bill Workman said he is confident
that they’ve found a package that appeals to all parties.
“I feel very good about the agreement that we’ve reached,” Workman
said. “Congratulations and thanks go out to the employee associations
and the City Council for staying with it and staying engaged and for
trying to resolve what nationwide is a real critical problem for
employees and employers.”
The new plan, Workman said, offers everything employees are
seeking -- affordability, choice and quality care.
“The city’s in-house plan is a small plan that didn’t have the
marketplace or quite the viability that a larger Blue Shield plan
has,” Workman said. “Employees had expressed more interest in the
Blue Shield plan than in Health Net and other plans we had looked
at.”
The new package is a cut above its predecessor, said John Von
Holle, president of the Municipal Employees Assn.”Considering the
time, the way medical is and everything else, I believe we did the
best we could for our members,” Von Holle said.
The old plan would have cost as much as a third of workers’ income
because of rising healthcare costs, he said.
“They might not like the HMO, but at least we made it so they
could have health coverage at a reasonable price,” Von Holle said.
“We had to get an avenue for some of these employees who are really
strapped for cash.”
The city will pay an additional $93.88 per employee per month
until the new plan is adopted April 1. From then on, it will
contribute an additional $37.72 per month.
Employees who opt for the Blue Shield PPO will pay up to $196
monthly, depending on the number of dependants. Those who choose one
of the two HMO options will contribute up to $60.
Officials from Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield will soon hold
meetings with city employees to brief them on the different
healthcare options.
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