April 2010 Retiree Notes

Quinn’s budget would shift health costs onto retirees

 

GOV. PAT QUINN HAS PROPOSED A BUDGET FOR THE COMING FISCAL year that would increase health care costs for virtually every state and university retiree. For those already on Medicare, the monthly premium contribution could be as little as $4 for an HMO or as much as $50 for the Quality Care Plan — and higher with dependent coverage. For those not yet eligible for Medicare, the new premium contribution would be a much bigger hit — some $290 per month for those in the HMO and more than $500 per month for Quality Care Health Plan participants.

 

“Retirees are overwhelmed and angry at Gov. Quinn’s budget proposal,” Chapter 31 President Virginia Yates said. “This puts an enormous burden on retirees, whose average annual pension benefit under the standard formula is $20,000. After working so many years for the state, giving up pay increases and often working in difficult conditions — whether in the prisons, on the highways or in a busy office, retirees expected that the state would uphold its part of the bargain in continuing affordable healthcare during retirement.

 

“AFSCME believes that these increases would be a violation of the union contract, as well as state law,” Yates said. “The union will take all available legal measures to block these increases. In the meantime all retiree members should call their legislators to prevent these proposals from going any farther.”

 

Court filing challenges charges for dental coverage

 

COUNCIL 31 HAS FILED SUIT IN Cook County Circuit Court challenging the Quinn administration’s requirement that state retirees pay part of the cost of dental coverage under the state health plan.

 

AFSCME argues that the state has historically bargained with the union over the terms of retiree health care and that the Department of Central Management Services cannot unilaterally make changes to those terms without first negotiating with the union.

 

When the state announced its intention to charge retirees for dental coverage, AFSCME immediately objected and demanded to bargain over the proposed change. But CMS insisted that it had the right to implement the change without having to negotiate with the union. The department notified all state of Illinois retirees who were participating in the dental plan that in order to maintain coverage, they would have to pay $11 per month toward the cost of the premium. More than 4,000 retirees dropped their coverage as a result.

 

The union filed a grievance that went to arbitration, but the arbitrator did not rule on the merits of the grievance, instead asserting that Council 31 could not enforce the rights of retirees through the grievance procedure. In the lawsuit, AFSCME is asking the court to vacate the arbitrator’s award, arguing that he was limited to using only language that is in the collective bargaining agreement to reach his decision and did not in this case, thus exceeding his authority. Further, the union argues, the decision is contrary to the provisions of the Illinois Labor Relations Act.

 

“Retirees are seeing that the dental charge was just the beginning, as demonstrated by the governor’s proposed budget,” Chapter 31 coordinator Maria Britton said. “If the state can get away with unilaterally imposing this charge, what’s to keep them from just piling on other charges that retirees will have to pay in order to maintain their health-insurance coverage? With this suit, AFSCME is seeking to prevent that from happening.”

 

Alton retiree leader recognized as women’s rights advocate

 

ARLOU WALLER, FOUNDING member of Chapter 31, was honored on March 6 at the Eva McDonald Coalition Breakfast.

 

“Arlou is truly one of the most deserving candidates for this award,” Alton Sub-chapter 59 President Dorothy Asbury said. “Arlou’s ingenuity and dedication to women’s rights has made her a major asset not just to our union, but to our community at large.”

 

Waller received the Eva McDonald award for her lifetime dedication to the women’s movement, her dedication to strengthening women’s rights in the workplace, and her work in helping to establish AFSCME Chapter 31 in 1984.

The award was created for its namesake, an Alton school teacher who taught gifted children and supported the Equal Rights Amendment and women’s rights. She originated the women’s silent vigil at the White House and belonged to the retired teachers association.

 

The Eva McDonald Women’s History Coalition is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the theme “writing women back into history.”

 

Foes of retirement security stack debt commission

 

REPUBLICAN APPOINTEES TO THE National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a body created by executive order of the president, have a long voting record of opposing retirement security.

 

The debt commission was supposed to help create a bipartisan solution to a politically charged and difficult issue. But the new Republican appointees have continuously pushed for weakening Social Security and selling off Medicare to the big drug and insurance companies. They reflect the failed ideology of former President George W. Bush who tried to give Wall Street the opportunity to gamble away the Social Security fund.

 

New Republican members of the panel include Sens. Tom Coburn, Okla., Mike Crapo, Idaho, and Judd Gregg, N.H., and Reps. Dave Camp, Minn., Jeb Hensarling, Texas, and Paul Ryan, Wis. According to the Alliance for Retired Americans they have a combined average lifetime voting record on protecting retirement security of 6.6 percent.

 

The commission’s 18 members will be charged with developing recommendations for Congress to balance the budget by 2015. Any recommendation must be approved by at least 14 of the 18 members. Six members, including at least two non- Democrats, were appointed by the president, and the rest were appointed by Congress, with Democrats and Republicans each having six appointments. In theory, Congress will take up the recommendations at the end of the year — although it’s not clear if the legislators will heed the commission.

 

The recent appointees call into question the objectivity of this panel, especially when the co-chair is Sen. Alan Simpson, who has referred to older Americans as “greedy geezers.” He wanted to lower Social Security benefits by changing the statistical formula used to calculate the cost-of-living adjustments.

 

“Retirees would be welladvised to pay close attention to this panel, which many seniors hope will reaffirm that Social Security and Medicare are two of our nation’s most successful programs, which have helped generations of seniors stay healthy and out of poverty,” Britton said. “We must remind them that American workers, since 1983, have paid enough Social Security payroll taxes to accumulate a $2.5 trillion surplus in the Social security Trust Fund. Retirement security must be a priority.”

 

Long-term-care hospitals lack accountability

 

A TREND TOWARD ESTABLISHMENT of long-term-care hospitals is creating new problems for seniors, who are the most frequent patients in this relatively new class of health-care facility.

 

“Seniors should be made aware of what long-term-care hospitals are and what their record is,” Quincy Sub-chapter 83 President Audrey Egerton said.

 

With 24 years experience working in the health care industry, Egerton has watched as the number of long-term care hospitals have grown.

 

“It was not a shock to me when the New York Times reported that long-term care hospitals are between two and four times more likely to be cited for serious violations of Medicare rules than regular hospitals,” she said. “They also have a higher incidence of bed sores and infections. And now Illinois has nine of them.”

 

Long-term-care hospitals, officially termed long-term acute-care hospitals are defined by the fact that they keep patients longer than other hospitals. Their patients typically have very serious illnesses, but are usually in stable condition. According to Medicare officials, fewer than 10 hospitals existed in the early 1980s that were dedicated to long-term care. But, in a significant example of how the health-care industry can exploit the $450 billion Medicare program, more than 400 have now opened nationally.

 

Under Medicare payment rules, traditional hospitals often lose money on patients who stay for long periods, so they have financial incentives to discharge patients to long-term-care hospitals, which then receive new Medicare payments upon admittance. Both hospitals benefit financially. Long-term care hospitals can pick which patients they will accept, usually choosing the most profitable.

 

These hospitals now treat around 200,000 patients a year, including 130,000 Medicare patients, at an estimated cost of $4.8 billion to the government this year, up from $400 million in 1993.

Despite the swift growth in the number of hospitals, Medicare has never closely examined their care, even though lawsuits, state inspection reports and statistics in federal reports draw a troubling picture. In a report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, in 2006, nine out of 1,000 patients developed serious infections in long-term-care hospitals, compared to fewer than three out of 1,000 at traditional hospitals. Most are woefully understaffed and spend less per patient than regular hospitals, but Medicare has few tools to enforce standards violations.

 

Hospitals must submit plans to correct the problems that inspectors find, but no fines or penalties can be imposed.

 

“Our older population especially should be aware of these facilities,” Egerton said. “We need to put pressure on our legislators to give Medicare the tools it needs to force these institutions to provide decent standard of care with adequate nurse staffing to the sickest members of our society.”