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.

 

Non-Medicare Medical Plan Costs

 

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

 

 

Since I am not eligible for Medicare, I would appreciate it if someone would send me the costs for Medicare eligible retirees so I can compare costs.

 

 

Open enrollment

 

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)