Bargaining Half-Time School Well being Insurance coverage

There isn’t any one dimension matches all answer to how chapters are bargaining part-time college medical health insurance with their neighborhood faculty districts. The Southwestern Faculty Training Affiliation (SCEA) in San Diego County negotiated an growth of their present medical health insurance for part-time college commencing in Fall 2023. Instantly upon receiving an task of 40 p.c at Southwestern Faculty, or as a multi-district part-time college, unit members and their dependents are eligible to pick plans which are 90 –100% paid by the district. If their load falls under 40 p.c, they’ll keep their present plan for one semester with the district paying 67 p.c of the premium.

Whereas chapters are submitting their calls for to cut price, one of many main challenges is that chapters and districts are discovering resistance from insurance coverage brokers and insurance coverage firms. The one approach to get round that’s to cut price for the precise well being plans. The Riverside Neighborhood Faculty District School Affiliation (RCCDFA) did this 20 years in the past and made the brokers’ contracts bargainable. RCCDFA really changed the dealer after which demanded higher negotiations with the insurance coverage firms. As a part of that course of, the brokers needed to interview with the Well being Advantages Committee that included RCCDFA representatives who then made a suggestion to the union chapter board and trustees.

The well being insurers needed to additionally undergo the identical course of, and RCCDFA demanded detailed statistics and evaluation for every of the well being plans, together with utilization and even pharmaceutical utilization. The result’s that RCCDFA has been capable of make knowledgeable choices, decrease prices, enhance providers and be certain that part-time and full-time college—and by consequence, directors and workers—are receiving one of the best advantages accessible with two HMOs and a PPO. The collective bargaining settlement gives the RCCDFA President or designee with unfettered direct entry to their third-party administrator which ensures the district can’t make unilateral adjustments. When issues have occurred, RCCDFA management has been fast to deal with these with the dealer and insurance coverage firms and aren’t hesitant to convey main points to the trustees’ conferences to voice considerations and frustrations.

“It’s potential to triumph; chapters should stay dedicated of their strategy and demand shared governance participation in the whole course of,” stated CCA Secretary John Sullivan, a former government board member on the Riverside Neighborhood Faculty District School Affiliation and San Bernardino Neighborhood Faculty District Lecturers Affiliation.

“My suggestion to all chapters scuffling with that is to work along with your CTA major contact workers to assessment your choices and push ahead, figuring out that you’re not alone within the course of.”

–CCA Secretary John Sullivan