What You Need to Know About................The Health Insurance Takeover

Currently in Washington State most every school district has a separate insurance program. Here in Medical Lake we have 10 options, which differ slightly from the options in Cheney, which is different from Spokane, right on down the line statewide.

What the legislature is considering is creating one statewide insurance plan, much like the other state employees have, and putting all school employees into this new system. The genesis of this was a report out of the state auditor's office last year that said the state could save $180 million dollars by creating One Big Pool, which is math that is strenuously denied by the WEA. Statewide the Public School Employees union, which represents classified staff, has come out in favor of the idea, though our own local PSE has concerns.

In general, the thought about switching is that folks who cover their entire family would likely end up paying less out of pocket than they do now. Those who cover only themselves--essentially, those who contribute to the pool--would see their rates increase, and there wouldn't be pooling and longer. If the plan switched there wouldn't be a guarantee that you would be able to keep your current doctor or dentist, though if they accepted other state employees odds are they would take the new School Employees plan, too.

For more information please visit the WEA Our Voice website, here. The Governor, the Senate Majority Leader, and the House budget writer have all come out for the idea, but even if it goes through the important thing is to let them know that lowering our health benefits would be an awful thing to do to families.

D'oh, and Some Health Insurance Numbers

A few weeks ago when I posted inviting you to fill out the survey regarding work day language someone left a comment that I didn't notice until today. I apologize for missing it, particularly because it's one that bears some discussion:

Thanks so much for your timely updates. How are things going? With a lean year, burdened by finaincial woes and a depressed economy teetering on the brink of recession and the energy crisis hitting us all square in the pocketbook what can we expect in the way of gains for the certified staff? What negotiating concerns have been agreed upon in content and what is still on the table? Have you any idea if the health insurance cost are going to once again absorb any or part of our COLA? Thanks for your time and efforts this summer, keep cool.

I emailed Lynn Paul in the District Office regarding health insurance information, and here's what I heard back from her:

Hello Ryan-the State Fringe Benefit Allocation will be $732 a month for 2008-09..an increase of 3 1/2%

The Health Care Authority remittance for retired school employees (carve out) paid by the District has increased 4.7% to $60.40. Group Health premiums have increased an average 8.9%, the WEA Premera Blue Cross 7.25% and the School Pool Premera Blue Cross 5.75%. WA Dental remains the same (111.20) and Willamette Dental increased 5.37% to $71.75. There will be a letter going out in August to employees about the Benefits Fair and will probably be stating the above also so people can prepare for the increases. Let me know if any further questions and thanks for helping to promote the attendance.

Essentially, then, health insurance costs are doing what they've been wont to these past few years--outpace the money that the state puts into health insurance. Thus, those of us who pay out-of-pocket (OOP) for insurance will likely be paying a bit more, but at least we've got our 5.1% COLA to help out.

Speaking of insurance costs, as we were getting ready for the bargain with the school district we did some research on the health insurance pool, and the numbers that came back were rather surprising. The chart below shows you the amount of money people paid OOP for their health insurance, as well as the number that paid in the indicated range:

Dollars OOP Per Month	Number of People
$0	43
$0 - $10	2
$10 - $20	19
$20 - $50	7
$50 - $100	25
$100 - $200	12
$200+	10
$300+	9
$400+	3
$500+	2

What does it mean?

• In a district of approximately 130 certificated staff members, 1/3 don't pay anything OOP for their health insurance. That's a fact worth celebrating.
  
• On the other hand, there's also the upper quartile with 36 folks paying more than $100 a month OOP for their insurance. These are the staff for whom the insurance pool is especially important, and I'll freely admit to being one of them.
  
• Given the general high cost of health insurance in the area, even those of us who pay out of pocket are still doing well.

All of this is a build up to remind you that the annual Benefits Fair is Monday, August 25th beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the High School. It's your one chance a year to have the insurance reps right there in front of you, and we all thank Lynn for putting it together. Hope to see you there!

Enjoy your summer!

--Ryan, for the MLEA Exec Board--