SHOW UP TODAY - Emergency Rally to Say NO to threats to Healthcare, Dec. 21, Unity machine shaky, Irony: Republican (Ariola) and Left Dems (Caban) on City Council Support Retirees, center/liberal Dems Waffle

Retiree Advocate/UFT and CROC - the multiple municipal union alliance, are planning another rally outside the UFT Delegate Assembly and the bigger the crowd the more impact. Don't expect thousands but dozens will be a good start because this fight is not over. 

 

The crux is the union leaders accept that they must share in the hurt and from withing a narrow framework where they don't see other options -- see below for a proposal to look at options. Yes healthcare costs are going off the chart. Mulgrew's response to put us in MedicareAdv and charge co-pays is weak -- that will not control costs. If we put all the people who currently work for the city and have in the past together, we have a powerful block to negotiate lower costs for care and drugs. And of course, the big enchilada to control costs in our state at least -- moving toward the NYS health act - single payer medicare for all, opposed by unions for numerous reasons, including it would take away their patronage and control of the welfare funds because they wouldn't be necessary.

 

Left Meets Right

A couple of tidbits. I called the office of my Rockaway Republican right wing city councilwoman and they said she backs us all the way. I called the office of Keith Powers, my local councilman in Manhattan midtown east and could not get an answer. So look at the document below to see that most or all Republicans signed on to support us. The influence of cops and fire. 

 

On the left, we've had great support from the hard left --- Charles Baron and Tiffany Caban. DSA people back our fight. So there's some interesting dynamics here.

 

The UFT may have some influence with the wishy washy libs. Are they threatening them with non-endorsements if they don't vote to change the Admin Code? We hear DC 37 is pulling that stuff. But at the last Ex bd meeting, Unity argued rigorously against him when Nick asked them to pull endorsements of those who oppose his reso (voted down) on moving Tier 6 people into Tier 4 - "we never want to lock ourselves in over one issue." Would we be shocked to see them turn around on this? No. But the UFT has been so bad at getting people elected, maybe it doesn't matter. 

Are Unity Cadre selling Mulgrewcare?

Mulgrew escalated a few weeks ago in panic when the city council people were leanign our way by bringing the battle to the rank and file with a Saturday night massacre letter threatening their own healthcare and blaming the retirees who sued. 

Some Unity people have been touching base with some of us to tell us there is a level of refusal to carry out Mulgrew's orders and when they are being carried out, without much enthusiasm. They have doubts and the arguments don't make sense and the misinformation from Mulgrew from the beginning has been rampant. And the quick response teams on the blogs and from Marianne have had an impact. How deep into the schools I can't tell.
 

Here's more details on the rally and march to DC37 and the MLC

Emergency Rally to Say NO to all threats being made to take 

away our traditional Medicare with premium-free Senior Care

Join us at UFT Headquarters -52 Broadway - as we greet Pres. Michael Mulgrew, other UFT union leaders and the delegates as they enter the Delegate Assembly.

Wednesday, Dec. 21st at 3:30pm

Speakers, Music and Chocolate

KEEP OUR EXCELLENT HEALTHCARE

NO PRIVATIZED MEDICARE DIS-ADVANTAGE PLAN     

NO ARBITRATOR DECISION

A contingent will march to DC37 & the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) Headquarters at 55 Water St. to deliver this message

 

A few comments gleaned from FB:

The Republicans and a couple of conservatives are saying health benefits are part of our constitutionally protected pension protections? Republicans hate public anything. Now, they don't want privatized Medicare. They are publicly opposing it. This is amazing.

But his conclusion: that the City Council must gut Administrative Law 12-126 in order to preserve health insurance choices would be laughable if it weren’t so serious. It is akin to the Army’s rationale during the Vietnam War that, “We had to destroy this village in order to save it.”

 

 

https://council.nyc.gov/caucuses/common-sense-caucus/

I'm not sure where this came from -

A Proposal for Protecting the Health-Care Benefits
of New York City Workers, Retirees, and Their Dependents
While Saving the City Money and Curtailing Runaway Health-Care Costs

BACKGROUND

Under Administrative Code 12-126, municipal workers, retirees, and their dependents are guaranteed premium-free health coverage up to the HIP-HMO benchmark, approximately $775/mth. This law has been in force since 1967. Retirees and active workers alike depend on this health-care coverage.

Health-care costs are paid by the City from two funds:

•   The Retiree Health Benefits Trust (RHBT), used exclusively by the City to pay for retirees’ Medicare and Senior Care premiums. At the moment it is well funded, but health-care costs keep going up and the City’s obligation is becoming more expensive.

•   The Health Insurance Stabilization Fund (HISF), used by the various unions to pay for active workers’ excess health insurance premiums as well as other benefits – dental, visual, podiatry, drug plans, etc – for both active and retired workers. In the past it has been treated as a slush fund to cover non-health-related costs, most notably in 2014, when $1 billion was withdrawn from the fund to cover wage increases for active workers. Now the HISF is going broke. If this happens, there will be no money to pay for union members’ health benefits.

  This is the problem in a nutshell: In the long run, the City needs to limit the cost of its health-care obligation. In the short run, the unions need to have the HISF replenished.

  THE EASY BUT WRONG SOLUTION

  Shift the City’s 250,000 retirees and their dependents out of traditional Medicare + Senior Care and into a Medicare Advantage plan. MA plans are entirely paid for by the federal government and are run by private health insurance companies. While MA plans supposedly provide the same coverage as traditional Medicare plus Medicare supplemental plans, the funds available to these plans are nearly 25% below what is currently available through Medicare + Senior Care. So MA plans rely heavily on limited provider networks and denial of care to keep their costs down and preserve their profits.

  The switch to Medicare Advantage would result in savings of $600 million per year to the City. This constitutes a mere 0.6% of the total City budget – a drop in the bucket for the City – but it would provide a quick way to replenish the depleted HISF. This appeared to be an easy solution, especially since the retirees lack representation and negotiating power.

  But the solution backfired. In 2021, when retirees discovered the forced switch to Medicare Advantage, they self-organized and fought back. Over 65,000 retirees opted out of the City’s MA plan even though opting out meant they would have to pay the Senior Care premium, roughly $200/mth. The NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees raised enough money from thousands of pensioners and took the City to court. In 2022, the NYS Supreme Court declared that, under Administrative Code 12-126, the City could not charge retirees for their Senior Care. The City appealed – and lost. With Senior Care remaining premium-free, the plan to switch retirees to Medicare Advantage collapsed.

Now the City has opened a new assault on its retirees:

1. It is attempting to get City Council to modify the language of Administrative Code 12-126 to allow for different “benchmarks” and “classes.” Such a change threatens not only retirees but also active workers. Instead of a guaranteed benefit, health-care coverage would be thrown open to negotiation. Different coverage, with much lower benchmarks, could be offered to different classes: teachers, clericals, uniformed actives, retirees, dependents, those with more or less seniority, etc.

2. Mayor Adams and the mediator of City health benefits, Martin Scheinman, are threatening to impose a “nuclear option” – offering only one health-care option to retirees, namely, Medicare Advantage. Take it or leave it. All or nothing.

Bizarrely, the MLC and its two controlling unions, the UFT and DC37, are also urging all their members to contact City Council and demand that Administrative Code 12-126 be changed – even though such a change will jeopardize active workers’ health-care coverage. Why? Because the unions are desperate to replenish the HISF.

A BETTER SOLUTION

The switch to Medicare Advantage is a short-term solution. It does nothing to rein in health-care costs or the continued misuse of the HISF as a slush fund. It would substantially reduce the services available to retirees and cause significant hardship for any retiree who becomes sick and needs care.

A long-term solution is needed, one that holds down costs but does not jeopardize the health coverage of either retirees or active workers. The PSC has put forward a proposal that CROC supports: for the City to withhold $0.5 billion from the Retiree Health Benefits Trust for the next two years and instead use that money to shore up the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund. This would allow time to seriously evaluate effective cost-cutting solutions that the City and the MLC have themselves put on the table but have not actively investigated or pursued:

1. Set up a municipal self-insurance plan for all actives, retirees, and their dependents. This would greatly reduce the high overhead costs charged by private insurance companies and give the City greater leverage with hospitals and other costly providers.

2. Require lower costs from the private hospitals, which are currently charging exorbitant fees.

3. Address the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs by consolidating union welfare fund drug plans and

   negotiating lower rates for all.

4. Audit current insurance providers for potential fraud and duplication.

5. Reduce money wasted from bad insurance management and inefficiencies.

Adopting a more rigorous approach to cost-cutting using these measures will result in long-term health-care savings and obviate the need to cut benefits to either active or retired workers.

 

MulgrewCare Update: It's About Collusion and Civil Rights - Retiree Evie Rich Uncovers the Racism, Sexism and economic impact - Amsterdam News

Brewer correctly characterizes for-hire arbitrator Martin Scheinman’s December 15, filing in favor of the Medicare Advantage switcheroo a “non-binding report.” Pizzitola is more blunt, calling it “paid propaganda.”... Joe Maniscalco, Working-Bites

 The hits keep coming for Mulgrewcare with the above piece just out - see full article below. Then this dagger to the heart of Mulgrewcare by retiree Evie Rich (also reprinted below).

this thoughtful piece penned by Evie Rich

@NYAmNews thru a BIPOC lens about your Medicare privatization scheme & how it affects all workers, but especially workers of color is poignant & a clarion call. Reverse course, now. Workers UNITE! --- Educators of NYC

Key Takeaways from the sharply written article in The Amsterdam News:

• we must see ourselves as members of a new army of ordinary people, determined to change the delivery of health care in New York City. Let’s take power away from those who “stay back” and move forward, seeking a permanent solution to the central issue of our time: access to free, comprehensive, affordable health care. 
• Health care is not only a human right. Access to quality, comprehensive, affordable health care is imperative. We are an army of older residents engaged in this struggle and determined to win it — for ourselves, our children and our children’s children.
• The stakes are high here. This is not simply a retiree issue. It affects large numbers of the city’s current work force and the larger population as well. A change in Section 12-126 of the Administrative Code opens the door to future changes in the quality and cost of active employees’ health insurance. 
• a racist healthcare system that has always denied Black and brown people access to quality care. Passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 required the 20% co-pay as dictated by Republicans and Southern Democrats. Healthcare inadequacies are rooted in this system, which recognizes the financial limitations of some patients as well as limited access to preventive care. Too many people of color are underinsured or uninsured.  
• Thirty-one of the 51 City Council members are people of color. They represent a NY City workforce of 305,000 that is predominantly female and minority. Eighteen percent of the workforce is eligible to retire now and 29% is eligible to retire in five years. Assessing that workforce, 58% of the men and only 36% of the women are in the top income bracket of $70,000 or more. Among retirees, the disparity in income is probably greater. The point here is that they are mostly white. 
•  One in four African-American families has a net worth of zero! Imposition of the Medicare Advantage Plan would create a two-tiered healthcare apparatus dominated by women and low-income families. In a forced transfer to a Medicare Advantage Plus program, Latinx and African Americans will be denied the care we need.
  

 https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2022/12/19/time-to-stand-up-and-go-tell-it-on-the-mountain/

 

At the most recent Retiree Chapter Meeting, I was on zoom and heard a retired para and secretary point out they don't have the option to opt out because their pensions are so low. These were not people in the activist wing of the retiees. A year ago I was prepared to spend $4500 a year to keep my current Medicare and Seniorcare because I could afford it. The court case killed that by declaring I could not be charged. Mulgrew wants to change the admin code so I and others of economic means can do so. One of the recent outrages from Unity hacks was Lyn Winderbaum saying she likes her Medicare and wants to pay to keep it. Marianne took her down for that, pointing out the inequities. I know retirees before me with pretty low pensions. So, now I am opposed to that option because I have come to realize just how unfair it is for so many people who cannot afford to do what I can.  

You can demonstrate your unhappiness with Mulgrew and Unity by coming to 52 Broadway tomorrow - Wednesday at 3:30 to show your displeasure.

 

And just out on Work-Bites:

Medicare Advantage Is a National Scandal - How Thick Could New York City’s Information Bubble Be?

https://www.work-bites.com/view-all/1n72juz2psj2e6v48d80bgwyati58c?fbclid=IwAR1yo5uAUf0jpWL723sE2H3PfUvGn-rsymJaC3lr0pWhrF2hwPdFX1p5x5c

Collusion.

That’s what the campaign by New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the heads of the Municipal Labor Committee [MLC] to push municipal retirees into a privatized for-profit Medicare Advantage healthcare program looks like to the many thousands who’ve spent more than a year trying to stop the plan.

What else can a rational human being conclude other than collusion against municipal retirees?

Medicare Advantage is one of the filthiest scandals in America today with lawmakers in Congress calling for the program’s nationwide abolition. And yet, the heads of the biggest city in the country are running around insisting Medicare Advantage is a good deal for retirees.

Really?

How thick would that bubble have to be to keep all that information out?

Work-Bites has already reported on some of the mounting evidence against privatized, for-profit Medicare Advantage plans and the delays, denials and deaths that come with them.

Here’s a little recap: earlier this month, retired Delaware State Senator Karen Peterson told us how “your healthcare can really go off the rails” with Medicare Advantage.

Nevertheless, the powerbrokers in Peterson’s state, as here in NYC, tried to sell municipal retirees on Medicare Advantage, insisting it was “just as good” as what they already had — “only better.”

Turns out, the Medicare Advantage contract Delaware signed with a private healthcare insurance company in September, actually contained 2,030 pre-authorizations — 340 pre-authorizations for medications — and 1,690 pre-authorizations for procedures.

Few things concern dedicated municipal retirees more than suddenly not being able to see their doctor.

A recently-released report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance critical of Medicare Advantage chicanery found instances of “provider network confusion” across 10 states where the beneficiary was “switched into a new plan and was unaware that their current doctors were not covered under their new plan’s network until they began to use the new plan.”

Gale Brewer, former Manhattan Borough President and current City Council Member representing the Upper West Side, doesn’t seem to have any problem piercing any sort of Medicare Advantage information bubble.

“The city has offered various Medicare Advantage plans for years,” Brewer said in a stamens this week, “but few retirees choose them because they are demonstrably worse than Senior Care.”

She goes on to say, “Medicare advantage plans give private insurance companies the power to overrule primary care physicians — and to say which procedures will be permitted,” she added. “Many retirees have health care issues and work very hard to stay healthy. Keeping their current insurance plan, called Senior Care, is critical in retaining access to their doctors and ensuring continuity of care.”

Gale Brewer gets it.

WHY AREN’T THEY TALKING WITH RETIREES?

That awareness has prompted Brewer to urge all parties involved to “sit down together and work this out.”

Marianne Pizzitola, president of the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees and Fire Department EMS Retirees Association, has spent months calling for a sit-down with MLC heads Michael Mulgrew, Harry Garrido and Harry Nespoli.

Instead of taking her up on the offer, however, the trio, along wih Mayor Eric Adams — the former Medicare Advantage critic who used to call the program a “bait and switch” — have been pushing pell-mell to privatize the healthcare for tens of thousands of retired trade unionists — raging in the courts, issuing ultimatums, leaning on New York City Council members to tear up part of the City Administrative Code and implementing extra health costs.

Again, all at the precise moment Medicare Advantage plans are being exposed as predatory money grabs and raked across the coals from coast-to-coast.

Brewer correctly characterizes for-hire arbitrator Martin Scheinman’s December 15, filing in favor of the Medicare Advantage switcheroo a “non-binding report.”

Pizzitola is more blunt, calling it “paid propaganda.”

”The December 15th Scheinman report is not a “ruling”, it’s an opinion,” Pizzitola said in a statement released this week. “It’s paid propaganda and they’re hoping the city council falls for it. It is not a decision, it is not a ruling, it is not an award…and yet everyone fell for the biggest play in history…a paid opinion piece!”

Municipal retiree groups have already identified at least $300 million in savings to the City of New York — and none of it necessitates pushing them into a disastrous for-profit Medicare Advantage plan that progressive lawmakers in D.C. say ought to be abolished.

“OMB knows about some of these savings options, and has not implemented them,” Pizzitola says. “Nor have they informed the city council they exist. OMB was unaware of others we suggested in a recent meeting! Which is worse? And yet they told the Mayor’s office there is only one path forward! How can the mayor or the council make a decision if they are not being properly informed by OMB?”

Those leading the charge for Medicare Advantage are some of the most powerful people in the City of New York today. Elderly Municipal retirees are among the weakest and most vulnerable. But they are all hard-working trade unionists who’ve spent their entire working careers in education, the Fire Department, building trades, law enforcement — you name it. Corporate-owned, anti-labor media outlets in this town, as they did in Delaware, are trying to dismiss them all as a small group of crotchety old cranks. We should all remember that and consumer our media accordingly.

New York City municipal retirees certainly remember the 2014 pact between former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and UFT President Michael Mulgrew — the faustian deal that allowed $1.3 million from the city’s Health Stabilization Fund to be used to cover needed raises following a decade of austerity under billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

They’ve connected all the dots and refuse to be steamrolled by anyone. They simply can’t afford to pretend to live in a Medicare Advantage information bubble. And neither can any of the “retirees in training” following right after them.

 

Here's the full Amsterdam News piece.

Time to Stand Up and Go Tell It on the Mountain! 

by Evie Rich December 19, 2022

 

If you’re white, you’re right;

If you’re brown, stick around;

If you’re black, stay back!

#MulgrewCare Update: COLLUSION as Mulgrew promotes MedAdv, There are Calls To Abolish Private Medicare Advantage Plans as Scandals Mount

It is fairly clear that Mulgrew’s negotiations have been all about protecting the health – not of our members and retirees – but of this [stabilization] fund (p.16):.... Jonathan

Scheinman is basically a scribe for the City-MLC, not an independent arbitrator.... James, ICE Blog

More from Jonathan:

Collusion: I have made the case before: Mulgrew, Nespoli, Garrido, the whole MLC, Scheinman, Adams, and the City’s financial administration, starting with the OLR, plus the insurance companies – they are all working in concert. They are colluding. And they leave the evidence all over the place ...I am absolutely convinced that Scheinman worked with the City and the leadership of the MLC unions, including Mulgrew’s people, in creating his 12/15/22 “Opinion and Award.”  JD271Collusion and Bullying by OLR/UFT/MLC (Mulgrew et al)

UFT Ex Bd member Nick chimes in at New Action on the brewing UFT/MLC/Adams/Scheinman Scandal: 

New Action – UFT

UFT Members Take Note: Medicare Advantage is a Consequence of Backroom Bargaining -

 Nick homes in on the vote for the 2018 contract which is a factor in this mess: 

this all comes down to the 2018 (and 2014) contract(s). Scheinman only has the right to intervene here, because Mulgrew promised healthcare savings to the City that he couldn’t make happen (and without the informed consent of membership).

And there was not informed consent -  Was 2018 the Worst Bad Deal Ever?

Nick has also been pointing out that Mulgrew and Unity try to paint the thousands of people who opted out and support the battle to preserve our healthcare as the bad guys:

The only ‘villains’ in the official story are a “small group of unaffiliated retirees,” (p. 19), i.e. the retired left-opposition. This substantiates what we’ve been saying all along, that the people who have been fighting for better healthcare will be scapegoated by the people in power who destroyed it. Don’t get me wrong, that ‘small group of retirees’ has said some things I disagree with. Grandfathering is NOT a solution here. We must preserve traditional Medicare both for current AND future retirees. 

And never lose site of MedAdv scandals:

Portside: As Scandals Mount, So Do Calls To Abolish Private Medicare Advantage Plans ...the private health insurance program that a recent Senate report said is "running amok" with "fraudsters and scam artists." "In reality, so-called 'Medicare Advantage' is neither Medicare nor an advantage."... 

 

Scandal ridden healthcare is what Mulgrew, another scam artist, is trying to put us into. And he claims going with Aetna, owned by CVS, will save money.

Nothing like overbilling to save money. And this:

 

I reported on the Scheinman decision at ed notes yesterday:

There will be blood - er Lawsuits - UFT Leadership Joyful as Crooked - er Biased Arbitrator Scheinman Issues 25 day Ultimatum: Sign with Profit making Aetna (owned by CVS) and change Admin code or Medicare Disadvantage here we come 

James has a follow-up: ICEUFT BlogARBITRATOR SCHEINMAN IMPOSESES MULGREWCARE (Medicare Advantage) ON CITY RETIREES

Scheinman is not an independent arbitrator here. He has been chairing the Tripartite City-MLC commission on healthcare. How does he have jurisdiction in this matter as the City and union leaders are basically in agreement here?

Jonathan agrees with James about Scheinman having no jurisdiction:

Scheinman’s decision-making power as the arbitrator for the Tripartite Health Insurance Policy Committee arises in the case of a dispute

(From the 2018 letter referred to within the UFT as Appendix B)

Where is the dispute? Does Scheinman actually have any authority here? There are no positions for the parties, because the parties appear to be not in dispute. Everyone agrees about who needs to get screwed (me, and you).

Scheinman NOT designated arbitrator for Medicare Advantage issue

Oh, and oh no. Scheinman has been named to resolve disputes on items 1-4 in Appendix B. But the current issue, Medicare Advantage, comes from item 5. The agreement doesn’t cover point 5. Maybe that’s why Scheinman does not begin by establishing his authority? Point 5 only calls for recommendations.

 

I'll let you read Jonathan's entire piece here - https://jd2718.org/2022/12/15/more-collusion-and-attempted-bullying-by-olr-uft-mlc/

And here is the full piece on MedAdv Scandals from Portside:

There will be blood - er Lawsuits - UFT Leadership Joyful as Crooked - er Biased Arbitrator Scheinman Issues 25 day Ultimatum: Sign with Profit making Aetna (owned by CVS) and change Admin code or Medicare Disadvantage here we come

MULGREW EMAIL SHOWS ROUND TWO PUSH FOR MULGREWCARE (PRIVATIZED MEDICARE ADVANTAGE) IS UNDERWAY... ICE Blog

 Initial Analysis from a Retiree Advocate member on today Scheinman ruling

It looks like he's trying to establish the status quo ante, from before the lawsuit. It's a crass ploy to pressure the City Council to amend the Code. 

• He's ordering the City & MLC to reach an agreement with Aetna, within 25 days, to administer the old Alliance plan. 
• He's threatening that if the City Council doesn't amend the Code within 45 days he will end Emblem Senior Care.
• He will allow the City to offer other options to retirees, as long as there is no cost to the City.
• In the above case, retirees would pay the full cost of any other City plan we chose (so we would presumably still receive our Medicare Part B reimbursements if we chose a City plan). Would the City's offerings include a Medigap plan? I don't know.
• Which is exactly where we were before Judge Frank's ruling.

It seems to me that Scheinman is threatening to do some things that he might not have the power to do, which will result in lawsuits. By the way, Scheinman is the one who is threatening our collective bargaining rights, not Judge Frank....

Let's be clear -- Mulgrew et al is moving us out of a publicly managed option into this private corp monster where profits come before our health. 

CVS Plans $10 Billion Share Buyback - Bloomberg.com

CVS Health: Signify As Growth Catalyst, 8% Buyback Yield, And Cheaply Valued

Dec. 08, 2022 4:26 AM ETCVS Health Corporation (CVS)

 CVS Health is a healthcare company known for its CVS Pharmacy. In addition to CVS Pharmacy, CVS Health owns CVS Caremark and Aetna, among others.

Third quarter 2022 results were strong. During the quarter, revenues increased 10%, free cash flow increased 73%, and earnings per share increased 9%.

Analysts on the Seeking Alpha CVS ticker page expect the dividend to grow 5% for fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024.

Check quick: Does Scheinman own stock in CVS because this can be a $38 billion windfall?

• when Unity was hard-selling this deal, in an unexplained rush, they clearly said there were no health care give backs. And then they did not provide Appendix B.
• Appendix B is about health care cuts.... Jonathan Halabi, Was 2018 the Worst Bad Deal Ever?

Can you tell me how there are no conflicts here when the #arbitrator who is supposed to be #neutral is having dinner poolside with the lawyer for the

@UFT

@TeamstersJC16

#local731HarryNespoli, the #MLC

@EmblemHealth

@HenryGarrido17

??

 

The arbitrator also said that unless the City Council amends the New York City Administrative Code within 45 days, GHI SeniorCare and all other current “pay-up” plans will no longer be offered once the premium‑free Medicare Advantage plan launches.

So here we are ---- either chance the admin code so the wealthier retirees can pay to opt out, thus furthering inequity, or being forced into MedAdv run by Aetna -- note Scheinmann forces them to deal with Aetna. See my opening question.

 

Let's look at CVS/Aetna as a profit making company:

2017 - Aetna Doubles Dividend, Boosts Stock Buyback Plans- Insurer’s moves come days after walking away from $34 billion merger deal with Humana

Aetna was bought by CVS in 2018. Amazon shark jaws are open:

 

Here's a fun fact: 

 

CVS Health is the parent company of the health insurer Aetna, which Amazon has reportedly reached out to, among other insurers. The move suggests that Amazon is moving along with Amazon Care — its on-demand health service that has at-home care aspirations — quicker than what may have been expected.

 

Will my Walgreen's prescriptions still be allowed?

 

CVS turned Amazon down  - for now -- but when can we look forward to having our healthcare managed by Jeff Bezos?

The American Medical Association (AMA) was disappointed in DOJ’s decision, standing by its stance that the merger will harm patients. “We now urge the DOJ and state antitrust enforcers to monitor the postmerger effects of the Aetna acquisition by CVS Health on highly concentrated markets in pharmaceutical benefit management services, health insurance, retail pharmacy and specialty pharmacy,” AMA President Barbara L. McAneny, M.D., said in a statement.

 

Karen S. Lynch President and Chief Executive Officer	Total Cash $7,045,167	Total Compensation $20,388,412
Shawn M. Guertin Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer	Total Cash $4,323,636	Total Compensation $14,339,230

 

Average CVS Health Executive Director yearly pay in the United States is approximately $187,259, which is 133% above the national average.   See more https://www1.salary.com/CVS-HEALTH-CORP-Executive-Salaries.html

 

Nice pay - go ask the clerks at your local CVS what they make.

Here's the good news: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mulgrew buddy, so-called "impartial" arbitrator Scheinman, should immediately disqualified. The UFT chose him in 2014 and 2018. 

 

The UFT statement below dovetails with the Scheinman decision.

UFT: For Immediate Release – Thursday, December 15, 2022

UFT Statement on Arbitrator’s Decision on new Medicare Advantage program

An independent arbitrator has ordered the city to negotiate a new Medicare Advantage program with the Aetna insurance company in the next 25 days.  He also determined that if an agreement is reached, the city’s unions would have a choice of either approving the deal or facing the necessity of paying premiums for health care.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said:  “In the last decade the cost of health care has been rising dramatically and over the long term only action by the federal government can solve this national crisis.”

“In the meantime, the municipal unions have been negotiating with the city on how to preserve our health care benefits.  Most importantly, we want to maintain plans that do not require our members to pay the thousands of out-of-pocket dollars that most workers now typically have to pay for health insurance.”

“A new Medicare Advantage plan will be  negotiated to keep that premium-free status, and we will make sure that it meets our retirees’ needs, even while saving hundreds of millions of dollars that will be dedicated to other health care services.”

Arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman issued his findings December 15, 2022.  Scheinman, who played a key role in city/union health agreements in 2014 and 2018, has been appointed by the parties to arbitrate any potential disagreements over interpretation of the pact and to enforce its provisions. Scheinman also chairs the Tripartite Health Insurance Policy Committee, consisting of the city and the MLC, which was formed in 2018 to consider how city health care could be restructured to preserve quality while stemming the rising cost of its delivery.

A copy of the full decision is here: https://www.uft.org/sites/default/files/attachments/Dec15-healthcare-arbitration.pdf

(Scheinman's conclusions start at page 28)

 

More excerpts from Jonathan:

Was 2018 the Worst Bad Deal Ever?

Here’s the link to the MOA: https://www.uft.org/files/attachments/secure/moa-2018.pdf

Appendix B, as you might guess, is not attached.

In fact, when Unity was hard-selling this deal, in an unexplained rush, they clearly said there were no health care give backs. And then they did not provide Appendix B. James found it. But because the leadership hid it, and most members rely on the leadership for their information, there is no way of knowing how many of those who voted yes on the contract knew there were givebacks. Probably very few, in light of Unity’s brazen lies. Arthur provides a good summary of the Unity rush to get the 2018 contract passed without revealing the health care give backs.

Appendix B is a letter. Here’s a link to the whole of Appendix B (4 pages).

So, we already know, agreeing to cutting health care is a bad deal. But worst deal ever? Let’s look at 1.a, and focus on 1.a.iv

First, a reminder: “savings” are savings for the City of New York and the Stabilization Fund. “Savings” for you and me mean less health care, harder to access health care, or more costly health care.

So Appendix B is about health care cuts.

Let’s focus on line iv. $600 million per yer – on a recurring basis. That means, even though that contract is over, the health care cuts need to continue forward. And worse. Any fool knows, health care costs are going up. So whatever cuts were good enough to amount to $600 mil a year ago, they are not enough today. Unity has put us on the hook for never ending cuts in health care. That’s what makes this perhaps the worst negotiated deal, ever.

Our contract is expired. But the health care cuts continue.

The health care cuts are permanent.

And Appendix B promises more cuts every year that health care costs rise.

 

More from Mulgrew:

You have my promise that the UFT will not move forward with the new plan until we have agreed on a high-quality plan our retirees deserve.

Where we go from here

During the next 25 days, we will push Aetna hard on these fronts:

increase the size of its provider network in parts of the United States where large numbers of UFT retirees live with the goal of getting 98% of the doctors that UFT retirees use in Aeta’s network. ensure that out-of-network doctors who provide services to our retirees are reimbursed by Aetna at the traditional Medicare rate without our retirees being billed. create a real accountability system that ensures that Aetna delivers all rights and benefits to retirees as agreed upon in the agreement; and set up a clear, fast process to rectify any issues. ensure there is an expedited appeals process for denial of care where specialists in the particular field/procedure make the final determination. ensure every retiree, regardless of pre-existing conditions, is accepted in the new plan.

Municipal Labor Committee