Public Employee Press

With health care issues settled, union says:
Now show us the money

By GREGORY N. HEIRES

Municipal unions and the city reached an accord on Dec. 18 that saves $100 million in health care costs and protects threatened benefits for members and retirees.

“This is a win-win agreement for both sides,” said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

“Our members will continue to enjoy an excellent package of benefits, our welfare fund will receive a much-needed infusion of funds and the city will get the financial relief it has been seeking.”

Most importantly, she said, “This agreement puts DC 37 in a position to proceed vigorously in our negotiations for a wage contract with the raises our members need.”

PICA plan saved
At an economic bargaining session Dec. 11, Ms. Roberts pointed to news of the city’s improving economic health and said, “It’s time for the administration to get serious and offer our members a fair wage package.”

The health-care agreement will rescue the PICA program, which faced elimination as costs ballooned. The plan provides psychiatric, injectable, chemotherapy and asthma drugs for 550,000 city workers and retirees. A new co-pay structure will provide an additional $30 million for the program, which costs an estimated $140 million a year.

HIP: no co-pays
Co-pays in the GHI/Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan will rise, but the HIP/HMO plan will remain without any co-pays for office and specialist visits and diagnostic services. The agreement will also expand the TransitChek program to include a debit card, which give participants flexibility to vary their monthly payments.

After months of talks, the Steering Committee of the Municipal Labor Committee — the umbrella organization of city unions that coordinates bargaining over health and welfare benefits — hammered out the $100 million agreement Dec. 18 with Labor Commissioner James F. Hanley.

Ms. Roberts, DC 37 President Veronica Montgomery-Costa and Social Service Employees Union Local 371 President Charles Ensley serve on the steering committee of the MLC, which is chaired by teachers union President Randi Weingarten.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg came to DC 37 headquarters to finalize the deal with the union group. “This is in everyone’s interest,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who praised the municipal labor group for its “spirit of compromise and willingness to negotiate.”

Over a year ago, as the city faced a $6 billion deficit, the administration had pressed for substantial premium co-payments to be deducted from members’ paychecks and demanded $600 million in benefit givebacks.

No premium deductions
A major achievement of the Dec. 18 agreement is that members will remain among the few groups in the nation whose health care package does not include a premium contribution.

Under the agreement, beginning April 1, the PICA program will be modified. PICA co-pays of $5 for generic drugs, $15 for brand-name drugs on a preferred list and $35 for non-preferred drugs will replace the current $6 charge for non-generic psychotropic and injectable drugs. For GHI participants, coverage of chemotherapy and asthma drugs will be transferred back to GHI CBP from PICA.

Also effective April 1, the following changes will be made in the GHI/Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan:

• The primary care office visit co-pay will rise from $10 to $15.
• The specialist co-pay will go from $10 to $20.
• The diagnostic service co-pay will go from $10 to $15.
• The non-participating provider annual deductible will rise from $175 to $200 for individuals and will remain at $500 for families.
• The hospital inpatient co-pay will increase to $300 per admission with an annual maximum of $750 from the current $200 co-pay with a $500 annual maximum.
• The emergency room co-pay will go from $25 to $50.
• There will be a 25 percent co-pay on non-mandated in vitro fertilization services.

The benefits of Medicare-eligible retirees in the GHI/Blue Cross Senior Care program will also be modified. Effective April 1, the medical deductible will rise from $100 to $150 and the hospital inpatient admission co-pay will go from $200 to $300 per admission as the maximum rises from $500 to $750.

The agreement includes a new $35 annual administrative fee for union welfare benefits — such as drug cards, dental and optical coverage, legal services and more — and provides a $100 increase in city payments to union welfare funds per full-time member, with pro-rated amounts for part-timers.

The health benefits agreement came a week after DC 37 held its latest negotiating session on the new economic agreement with the city. With important economic indicators improving, DC 37 demanded on Dec. 11 that the city come up with a wage offer for members.

Time for a pay increase
“The city is in a much better fiscal situation than when these negotiations started,” Ms. Roberts told Mr. Hanley, the labor commissioner. “We are grappling with our demands here in a vacuum, because the city has put nothing on the table.” Dennis Sullivan, director of the DC 37 Research and Negotiations Dept., said news of the economic upturn is making members more eager for a settlement.

Mr. Hanley downplayed the improvements in the city’s fiscal health. “Last year we faced a $6 billion deficit,” he said. “This year it’s only $2 billion. That’s still an awful lot of money.” He also stuck with the mayor’s position that raises must be tied to productivity enhancements in the new contract.