Ed Notes Extended

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Wednesday, April 5, 2023

RetireeTeacherChapter Meeting - the Horror of Holding up a sign, Sorkin Is Proud to Sign Non-Disclosure, The @uftnyc #MLC might be coming for Active workers - APRIL 11 RALLY, Sign the Healthcare Referendum Petition

Rally!! April 11th. Noon. City Hall


Wednesday, April 5, 2023 - Happy Passover 

I'm rushing to get this our before my wife wakes up with the list of honey-do's in prep for 30 of her family members coming for tonight's seder. 

Retiree Advocate was out in force before and during yesterday's Aetna screw-you retirees presentation at the monthly chapter meeting and we got loads of people signing our petition for a referendum on healthcare, now approaching 5,000, one quarter of what we need according to the constitution. Entire schools are rolling in, which means active members see the threat to their own healthcare with an RFP (Request for Proposal) out there while Sorkin hides behind his non-disclosure. At the Exec Bd when he said he was so proud of signing that I wanted to ask why sign it? 

Toward the end of the meeting, a few activists stood in the back of the room and held up some signs and RTC CL Tom Murphy went nuts, threatening to end the meeting and yelling for security to remove them. 

 
LeRoy Barr in the house.


Oh, the horrors. I took this photo in the hall. Note the photo of Albert Shanker looking on.
So, I have a lot to report but not enough time.
 The meeting was a boring Aetna presentation. I learned from one of the ladies attending how Aetna cheats to make even more money out of the Medicare system by changing your healthcare descriptions to upcode you for illnesses you might not even have. Imagine going to a hospital and your record is does not accurately reflect your true health?

Geof Sorkin: I have NDAs. I am proud that I will not reveal who the potential bidders are.

Yes, UFT Welfare Fund head Sorkin is proud to sign Non Disclosure Agreements as an excuse to withhold information from UFT members who pay his high salary. 

The UFT has refused to disclose or publicly discuss the RFP except in the vaguest details (there are apparently four bidders left but bet heavily on Aetna). This is the original RFI (Request for information), which proceeds the RFP:

They will probably try to save money by more creating aggressive levels of hospital and doc networks with higher copays for more expensive hospitals and doctors. The City wrote an article about the RFP:


PSC covers it: “You should also be aware that the City is entering into negotiations for a new Comprehensive Benefits Plan (CBP) to replace GHI, the plan in which most of PSC’s active employees are enrolled, starting in 2024. The intent is to keep the CBP premium-free while saving 10% on the current costs. MLC union representatives have not seen the proposals, but they are under review by the MLC executive committee and health technical committee”

Some MLC minutes were leaked in February with more details:
 

From Nick's Ex Bd Notes:

Healthcare, Tucker Carlson, and Maternal Mortality – UFT Executive Board Minutes, 3-27-2023

Tonight was mostly about healthcare. Kate Connors came to the Open Mic to talk about the New York Health Act. Ed Calamia asked about Aetna’s ongoing MAP fraud case, to which leadership answered it would not affect our deal. I asked about what specific ‘cost savings’ were being discussed by the vendors in the new in-service RFP, but didn’t get many details.

Nick: Want to ask a question. We’re hearing about an RFP with four potential providers to potentially replace GHI at a lower cost. Not asking about the four respondents – asked last week and wasn’t answered, though you’re free to tell us. However, we know how some of the cost savings have been realized for retirees – like prior authorizations. We also know about some of the cost savings we’ve already realized for in-service – like forcing first year teachers onto HIP or adding huge copays in GHI for most Urgent Cares – 15 bucks to 100 bucks since 2016. What types of ‘cost savings’ are these four vendors suggesting to make the cost savings? What types of copays? What types of networks – diminished? New prior authorizations?

Geof Sorkin: I have NDAs. I am proud that I will not reveal who the potential bidders are. Benefit design: a number of things: looking to replicate to GHI, but also looking across the country and seeing how we could leverage things. We have not met with any of the bidders. Michael has said we’ve identified 4. One of the complexities is we are looking at the info they’ve provided and it’s not always an apples to apples comparison.


Due to the Moratorium Act, @uftnyc couldn’t screw retirees without doing the same to in service workers or he’d face litigation! We hear this week begins negotiations for the in-service workers healthcare plan and it’s been said they are eliminating all health care plans, except for HiP HMO and replacing the Emblem plan with Aetna. That’s it! First they came for retirees. Now they come for you....NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees Inc
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