"Health care is a big problem that needs a big solution, and we are working toward that on many different fronts," says CTA Board member Bob Nichols, who chairs CTA's Health Benefits Task Force.
Those who are looking to CTA to solve the health care crisis need to know up front: a CTA insurance plan is not financially feasible, nor is a CTA statewide trust structurally possible. Even the state's Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) with its 1 million members has been unable to "solve" the health care crisis and control costs for its members.
Because the problem is so broad in scope, CTA believes it will only be resolved with fundamental structural reform, such as that envisioned in Senate Bill 840, the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA) currently under consideration in the state Legislature (read story). CTA is throwing its support behind the bill.
CTA's Health Benefits Task Force, which consists of teachers and staff from urban and rural, large and small chapters across the state, was appointed to study the healthcare issue and make recommendations to the CTA Board of Directors.
"We need to work within the larger picture of what's happening, and one way to do this has been by joining coalitions and encouraging legislation," says task force member Dorothy Chu, a member of the Montebello Teachers Association. She finds it frustrating that the political climate "around what's going on with the governor has diverted our attention from what's important to us as members of CTA."
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Robert C. Nichols |
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Dorothy Chu |
As a major player in the Alliance for a Better California, a coalition of organizations representing 2 million teachers, nurses, firefighters, school administrators and public employees that have banded together to fight the governor's initiatives, CTA helped gather the signatures necessary to put Prop. 79 on the Nov. 8 ballot. The Cheaper Prescription Drugs for California Act would require the state to negotiate real discounts for uninsured and underinsured citizens.
Last year, CTA endorsed Proposition 72, which would have required large employers to provide benefits. It came close, but did not win voter approval.
At the task force's suggestion, CTA helped found the California Public Education Labor Management Committee. Funded through a grant from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the committee's function is to address runaway healthcare costs in the public education sector in California, which includes, 150 school districts, their employee unions and 750,000 public school employees. The idea is to open the door to greater collaboration on other issues as well.
"We've been working with a lot of other labor groups and management groups to get away from the 'us vs. them' mentality," says Nichols.
On the labor side, CTA's partners on the committee include the California School Employees Association, the California Federation of Teachers and the Service Employees International Union. On the management side, the players are the California School Boards Association, the School Employer Advisory Committee, the Association of California School Administrators, and the California Association of School Administrators.
CTA has also joined the California HealthCare Coalition, a group that brings unions and employers together to promote standards for provider costs and quality of care. The group is currently working with PERS, Blue Shield and Blue Cross to examine claims data around these standards. Regional groups have been established in Sacramento, the Central Valley and the East Bay. The coalition released a study in April that showed how Sutter Health has played a key role in driving up health care costs in California (read story).
CTA is endorsing the PERS "Partnership for Change" program to promote high quality, cost effective hospital care as well.
As a sponsor of Teachers for Healthy Families, CTA is helping to make low cost insurance available for children and teens up to age 19. Healthy Families provides health, dental and vision coverage to children who meet the program rules and do not qualify for Medi-Cal. Children and teens who qualify receive 12 months of health coverage with low insurance premiums through the medical, dental and vision plans that work with the program.
"We also need to let our members know what's happening with health care. A lot of them see the cost and how it is affecting them personally, but we need to let them know what the bigger picture is," says Chu.
CTA has taken a proactive role in educating members about health care and in working with teachers and other stake holders to come up with possible solutions. Health care workshops designed to educate members about the healthcare crisis have been well attended and well received. More are in the works. CTA staff has also received training on the health care crisis.
The association is also planning to educate members about health care during their retirement years. CTA's Board of Directors has appointed a Retiree Medical Benefits Committee, which is developing a newsletter to assist members in preparing for retirement and securing adequate medical coverage for their golden years.
In order to help chapters negotiate with their districts over health care, CTA has developed a list of "things to watch out for" to protect members.
"I'm pretty proud of what has been accomplished, considering everything else CTA has been facing in our fight against the governor," says Nichols. "We have really kept our eye on the ball. As an organization, we our chapters are in a much better position to help our chapters with health care issues today than we were a year ago."
