Status Report 10/19/09
Age
Discrimination Filings
I tried to file an
age discrimination complaint with the State of California. They would not
investigate the complaint because I am not employed so I am out of their
jurisdiction. They did supply me with permission to sue UC and/or LLNS. On
October 14, I filed basically the same complaint with the EEOC. They accepted
the complaint and will investigate it. DonÕt hold your breath until something
happens, it could be hazardous to your health. A second group member will be
filing a second complaint. He retired from UC just before the transition and
accepted employment with LLNS so his situation is different enough from mine to
require a separate investigation.
UC Dialog
Manuel Perry has a report of his discussion with UC Counsel Charles Robinson.
After 3-4 days of playing "telephone tag", Charles Robinson and I finally talked yesterday afternoon about the LLNL retiree health care dilemma. He basically had two comments:
1. He has staff scoping out the issue - why and who made the decision to remove the LLNL retirees from UC management
2. What are the costs associated with the removal and/or re-instatement of LLNL retirees under UC management
I reminded him that the costs for health benefits for LLNL retirees were DOE costs, not UC costs. I also reminded him that we are the only UC/DOE laboratory being treated in this manner. I believe he and his staff will work the issue. I asked him what the timeframe was for his review and he said he would get back in touch with me within a month. However, if we don't hear anything in that time, we probably should be prepared to move forward.
Legal Fund Collection
To date we have
collected $88,350. At this point
we have paid $7,500 into an escrow fund for legal services and have spent about
$100 in miscellaneous expenses with web services being the largest expense at
$60. Our lawyers have used up the first $7,500 and are asking for the second
installment of $7,500.
I
have received an advance copy of costs for non-Medicare policies for next year
from a group member. Kaiser members will see a large increase. Anthem Blue
Cross PLUS will see a smaller increase. The other plans will show a small
increase. The table here only covers retirees with 20 years of service. I will
post the full tables on the web site so those of you with less than 20 years
can see what your costs will be.
2010 Non-Medicare 65 and OverRetiree Medical
Monthly Contributions |
||||||
20 Years of Service |
Kaiser North |
Kaiser South |
Anthem Blue Cross PLUS |
Anthem Blue Cross PPO |
Anthem Blue Cross Core |
Anthem Blue Cross EPO |
Retiree Only |
$97 |
$97 |
$396 |
$221 |
$0 |
$165 |
Spouse Only |
$107 |
$107 |
$435 |
$243 |
$0 |
$182 |
Retiree + Spouse |
$205 |
$205 |
$631 |
$465 |
$0 |
$347 |
Retiree + Children |
$175 |
$175 |
$712 |
$398 |
$0 |
$297 |
Spouse + Children |
$185 |
$185 |
$751 |
$420 |
$0 |
$314 |
Retiree + Spouse +
Children |
$282 |
$282 |
$1,147 |
$642 |
$0 |
$479 |
Children Only |
$78 |
$78 |
$316 |
$177 |
$0 |
$132 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2010 Non-Medicare Pre-65 Retiree Medical Monthly
Contributions |
||||||
20 Years of Service |
Kaiser North |
Kaiser South |
Anthem Blue Cross PLUS |
Anthem Blue Cross PPO |
Anthem Blue Cross Core |
Anthem Blue Cross EPO |
Retiree Only |
$36 |
$36 |
$360 |
$212 |
$0 |
$165 |
Spouse Only |
$40 |
$40 |
$396 |
$234 |
$0 |
$181 |
Retiree + Spouse |
$76 |
$76 |
$756 |
$446 |
$0 |
$346 |
Retiree + Children |
$65 |
$65 |
$648 |
$382 |
$0 |
$297 |
Spouse + Children |
$69 |
$69 |
$688 |
$404 |
$0 |
$313 |
Retiree + Spouse +
Children |
$105 |
$105 |
$1,045 |
$616 |
$0 |
$478 |
Children Only |
$29 |
$29 |
$288 |
$170 |
$0 |
$132 |
I
assume all of you received an Open Enrollment Guide from LLNS. It is a bit less
than optimal and says nothing about costs. It is interesting to conjecture what
contortions Extend Health will have to go through to get changes made on
December 31 updated with their providers by January 1. A less charitable person
might thing the choice of the Open Enrollment window was a mistake rather than
a challenge.
It
is an open question whether the plan comparisons in the back of the guide are
really meant for only the Non-Medicare retirees or were meant for everyone and
LLNS used less than due diligence in preparing it. Given the Hewitt enrollment
window it looks unlikely that LLNS does not intend to provide any public
presentation on Open Enrollment this year.
LANL Medical
Changes
It looks like the
other shoe has dropped at LANL. Any of you that think LLNS wouldnÕt dare drop
Kaiser should take the following report to heart. The fact that George Miller
kept Kaiser this year is no guarantee that it will be available next year.
New Dimensions October 2009
Open Enrollment Information for LANL Retirees
Beginning
January 1, 2010, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) medical and pharmacy
insurances will be provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico. United
Health Care and Anthem Blue Cross will no longer provide health and welfare
insurances for the Laboratory. Since the Laboratory is eliminating ALL current
medical plans and replacing them with new plans administered by Blue Cross Blue
Shield of New Mexico, you must make an election for your medical benefits
during this Open Enrollment period. If you do not elect a medical insurance
plan you and your dependents will be mapped to the medical insurance plan
most similar to your current plan.
As a LANL/LANS retiree, you may change your current benefits
through YBR between 8:00 a.m. (MST) on Monday, October 26, 2009 and 11:59 p.m.
(MST) on Friday, November 20, 2009.
„
On-line: www.ybr.com/benefits/lanl
„
Toll Free: 1-866-934-1200 (Mon Š Fri, 6:00 a.m. Š 7:00 p.m. MST)