by Dale Martin
As health care costs reach crisis proportions in contract negotiations, a coalition of school management and labor unions has been meeting over the past year to search for solutions and common ground.
The California Education Coalition for Health Care Reform, a joint labor-management committee that includes CTA, has begun offering training to union members and administrators throughout the state as to best practices, model contracts and ways both sides can begin to reduce health care costs in public education.
"Part of our strategy is to get our constituents educated on the issue," said California School Employees Association senior membership benefits coordinator Cindy Young during a special presentation to CTA State Council's Negotiations Committee in March. One of four panelists from the coalition at the meeting, she said education is important because health insurance costs are going to exceed the state-funded cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) by 2009, presenting a crisis for those who sit on bargaining teams.
While the public finances the military and education, "our health care program is based on who can pay rather than who needs it," said Young.
The American health care system might work for those who have decent insurance, but it is fragmented, inefficient, costly, and beyond reach for a growing number of people, she noted. Employer-sponsored insurance covers 62 percent of the non-elderly population. As for the rest, 18 percent are uninsured, 15 percent are on Medicare or Medicaid, and 5 percent are insured privately.
Although the coalition is still in its infancy, the fact that there is collaboration at all is a significant breakthrough. Then again, the rising cost of health care is being felt by school districts and school employees across the board.
"We were all tired of trying to negotiate with limited available dollars," Cathy McMullen, assistant superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District, told the State Council committee.
"Every one of us has the same concerns over providing health care benefits," added Larry Buchanan, superintendent of the Grant Joint Union High School District, who serves on the coalition along with McMullen. "But if you are not informed consumers, you cannot leverage health care costs."
Part of being an informed consumer, Buchanan noted, is knowing that there is "zero correlation between cost and quality. You may be paying more, and getting worse care."
Although the coalition has much work ahead, it has developed short- and long-term goals. In addition to education, the coalition wants to promote "value purchasing" through the use of regional purchasing coalitions, like the health care trusts that are already in existence.
"If you know the costs and can bargain, you will have an impact," said Jim Schlotz, a CTA negotiations specialist serving on the coalition. Schlotz cited the hotel employees union health care trust in Las Vegas that was able to save millions of dollars through a comprehensive restructuring of its physician network. The trust profiled patterns of practices by doctors to find out which doctors may have been providing unnecessary and costly services and procedures. By taking some of those pricier physicians off its referral list, the trust was able to save millions of dollars and, at the same time, change the behavior of doctors who may have been overcharging but were willing to make adjustments to get back on the list.
"By saving money on health care costs, we have more money available to go into wages," Schlotz told the committee.
The coalition, which was launched with $100,000 obtained through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, hopes not only to provide education and training to district and union health benefit committees, but to advocate for reform as well.
Ultimately, the coalition's goal is to win a single-payer plan and comprehensive health care for all citizens.
For more information or to schedule a session, contact any CTA Negotiations and Organizational Development specialist, or the coalition's project director Neil Bodine.
