Negotiations over healthcare are giving faculty union leaders and college administrators headaches, stomach pain and hot flashes. Talks so far have been prescription for heartache and hurt feelings.
Representatives of employees and the college are not anywhere close to agreement on healthcare and benefit costs, according to faculty union president Professor Eric Maag. Healthcare talks can be as complicated as the nervous system and raise blood pressure like sodium, he said.
Healthcare prices are determined by the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA). Faculty union vice president Professor Frank Post said there are 10 tiers. Tier One contains the highest costs and Tier 10 the lowest. SWC is on Tier One¬¬, the most expensive.
Maag said there were three factors that inflame healthcare prices and VEBA. They are the district’s contribution to the healthcare fund, competition between Kaiser and the health maintenance organizations (HMO) and employee opt-outs.
District contribution for full-time employees is $5,200. It is a flat rate, meaning if the cost for insurance increases, the employees have to pay more to meet the higher prices. They have had some help, however.
“The district has acknowledged that it’s not adequate,” Maag said. “So it has put more money into the system.”
Maag said the district contributes $800,000 per contract. Another fund is provided by the governing board on a year-by-year basis. This year it is $400,000. Even that, plus the $5,200, Maag said, is not enough to cover the increase in healthcare prices.
“Even though the district put in more money,” he said, “we still have people who are paying more out of pocket this year for their healthcare than they were this time last year.”
Factor two is equalizing the Kaiser plans and the HMOs, Maag said. VEBA wants Kaiser and the HMOs to be competitive. The idea is to bring in better service and lower prices.
Opt-outs are the third factor. An employee may choose not to take the district coverage and instead keep the $5,200 as cash. Post said opting out has damaged the employees’ ability to purchase affordable healthcare.
“While health and welfare costs were low, it wasn’t such a significant thing that people were opting out,” he said. “However, as health and welfare costs across the nation have increased, our service provider, which is currently VEBA, views that negatively. Therefore, we’re placed in a lower tier rate, which means it (insurance) costs more.”
Newer employees cannot opt out. More senior employees can collect the $5,200 as long as they continue to opt out. Once an employee opts back in, s/he cannot opt out again.
VEBA does not want employees withdrawing from district-provided healthcare and taking the $5,200, Maag said, because the money could be spread around and decrease the price for everyone. This would also increase the employees’ total contribution pool, giving SWC a chance to move up on VEBA’s tier scale and qualify for cheaper insurance.
Maag said there are employees who feel they should be able to receive the $5,200 if they choose not to receive healthcare from the district. The rebuttal is that the $5,200 is part of a benefits package, and if an employee chooses not to take his benefits, then s/he should not receive the cash.
Part-time instructors are not covered by district insurance unless they have at least 50 percent of a full-time workload. For example, if an adjunct has a 61 percent workload, the district contributes 61 percent of that person’s healthcare costs. This goes on up until 67 percent. California Education Code states if an instructor works 67 percent (or above) of a full-time workload for more than a year, s/he can apply to have the district cover the corresponding percentage for healthcare costs permanently.
Female instructors can find themselves in a vicious cycle, Maag said. Adjuncts do not receive maternity leave. A pregnant part-timer would have to work to pay for her own healthcare, but would not be able to teach a physical class.
Maag said the system needs an overhaul. Faculty need to have a sensible contribution from the college, he said, of $10,000 to $12,000. Opt-outs need to end, he said, and the bargaining units should meet five to six months earlier to avoid the last-minute panic.
Post said there should be no taking sides on the opt-out issue.
“We want to look out for our employees as a whole and we want to look out for our students as a whole.”
Health care is a necessity, he said.
“It’s proven that prevention is a key to a longer, healthy, fruitful life.”