WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey.September 24, 2008: Kerry Broderick, President of the White Plains Teachers Association, currently without a contract with the school district and negotiating, said the teachers and the district are not at an impasse. She told WPCNR the teachers have scheduled talks October 6 with the Superintendent of Schools. Broderick told WPCNR the negotiations were centered on salary only and that the district has agreed to negotiate a two year contract with salary details not decided.
The sticking point, she said were the increases in premiums paid the district health care provider the teachers have had to pay out of their salaries the last year and increases in the co-pays. She said the teachers are seeking to make up those costs.
The agreement on a two-year contract insulates any new Superintendent of Schools hired by the district from negotiating with the union in his or her first year of their contract.
Fred Seiler, Assistant Superintendent for Business for the district confirmed that premiums with the Statewide Schools Cooperative Health Plan, the consortium the district has contracted with for health benefits have gone up 17% since July 2007. He said, Co-Pays have doubled from $10 to $20 for doctors visits.
Teacher Share of Health Premium, 7%.
Seiler said the total premium for an individual with “SWSCHP” as it is known, this year is $7,293, of which a teacher pays $625 annually (8.6%) . For a two-person family, the premium is $15,388, the teacher share they pay is $1,075 annually (7%). The premium for a family Two Person, is $16,336, of which a teacher on the family plan pays $1,220 (7% of the cost).
Seiler told WPCNR, “That changed in July, 2007, a year and a half ago. What that meant on an individual basis It went $15 to $20 a visit for a individual visit. The deductible stayed the same. It’s the CoPay for either your primary physician or your medical prescriptions, but also at the same time, was introduced a plan with MEDCO there, where people could buy 90 days supply of their regular medication at a much lower than what they were paying before. For some employees they actually were saving money.”
Seiler said he was a member of the SWSCP Board (with the state). He said he had heard nothing criticizing the increases that took place in mid-2007.
Seiler recalled that when the SWSCHP increases took place, “Everyone understood it was an increase in the premium and an adjustment in the CoPay(s), you need a little bit of both to make it (the health plan) reasonable.”
A year and a half ago it went up 9% plus a change in the CoPay. This year, there were no change in benefits, coPays, or anything, then the overall increase was 8- 8-1/2% (in the premium). It was the first time in 12 years it was less than double digits. Not as low as we’d like it to be, but that’s true of every health plan.”
