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News
Your source on union-negotiated health care
benefits
Health care bargaining continues to present challenges, opportunities
July 29, 2005 -
This summer the Joint Health Care Committee (JHCC) is meeting with the state to do the necessary pre-bargaining work that will set the stage for another round of difficult health care negotiations.
JHCC Labor Co-chair Marianne Steger shared extensive data and research about the at the seven regional bargaining meetings.
FACTS ABOUT the bottom line Despite tough times, Steger explained, OCSEA is holding its own. She illustrated her point by looking at a state employee in Pay Range 28 and identifying what his or her monthly take-home pay is after taxes, PERS, and union dues.
Assuming the person was enrolled in the Ohio Med plan and had family coverage, the data shows that the take-home pay far outpaced any increase in the employee share of the health care premium.
And, for the last two years where salaries were not increased during this last contract cycle, health care increased by much less than it had in previous years, at only $2 and $5.
What's politics have to do with it? Although health care bargaining has been difficult here in Ohio over the last several contracts, Steger said that not all state employees in the U.S. had it as hard as OCSEA members have had it here in Ohio.
In fact, research comparing state employee health care costs in states with democratic governors versus republican governors underscored the importance of voting for candidates that support providing state employees with affordable health care and a decent salary.
Employee Share State employees from Oregon, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey had zero increases; and Wisconsin only experienced a 5 percent increase. Interestingly, Illinois had a reduction from 22 percent to 17 percent and Iowa's employee share was cut in half from 30 percent to 15 percent.
All of these states mentioned above are holding the line or experiencing minimum increases have democratic governors.
Meanwhile, state employees from the following states, led by Republican governors, paid a much higher health care premium:
- Alaska (17 percent)
- New York (18 percent)
- Maryland (20 percent)
- Florida (23 percent)
- Kentucky (46 percent)
- Indiana (increased from 7 percent to 20 percent), and
- Ohio (increased 10 percent to 15 percent).
Check out the Public Employee Quarterly article on page 13 to learn more. The PEQ, OCSEA's membership magazine, was mailed to members' homes this week.
Comparison Charts Additional charts and graphs will be available next week. Review the following comparisons now.
How do we compare on premium?
How do we compare on annual deductible?
How do we compare on office co-pay?
How do we compare on drugs?
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