health care

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Day 3: The Regents Session of 11-18-10

Byuclafaculty

Below are links to audios (videos with a still picture) of the Regents meeting of 11-18-10. (The audio is divided into 13 parts due to duration limits of video-Yahoo.) The meeting began with public comments. In that session, a message was read from Assembly leader Perez protesting the tuition increase. President Yudof cited the lack of state pension contributions to UC in rebuttal. As in the previous day, the comments were those of students objecting to the tuition increase and unions generally objecting to the benefit changes and lack of input into them. Students also objected to the switch in…

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Day 2: Regents Sessions 11-17-10

Byuclafaculty

Below are audios (videos with a still picture) of the Regents session of 11-17-10. The morning sessions – which actually ran until about 12:30 PM – are divided into 16 parts. Most of the afternoon sessions were closed but the one open session is included. To hear the sessions, start by clicking the large circle below. Then click on the various urls below that. The afternoon open session is the last entry. Here is the agenda for 11-17-10: 8:30 am Committee of the Whole (public comment) 9:30 am Committee on Educational Policy (open session) 10:15 am Committee on Finance (open…

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Regents Session on Retiree Health, Nov. 17

Byuclafaculty

The Regents will take up retiree health on Wednesday, Nov. 17, in a session beginning 10:15 AM. You can find the background materials at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov10/f4.pdf The chart above, which does not appear very clearly as reproduced in this blog, is on page 5. It shows the retiree health program’s unfunded liability. In fact, the program is not prefunded so virtually all funding is pay-as-you-go. But the background report treats it in the same way that the pension plan is treated. The chart shows the unfunded liability – with no change in the participant contribution policy – rising from around $15…

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Yudof’s Pension/Retiree Health Plans Getting Outside Criticism

Byuclafaculty

As previous posts have noted, UC has proceeded on its proposed modification of the pension and retiree health plans with an inward looking focus. The external world may not be so receptive. Even before the formal presentation to the Regents later this week, there is public criticism. See below: UC changes barely touch retirement cost problem (excerpt) Daniel Borenstein, MediaNews columnist, Contra Costa Times Posted: 11/13/2010 09:00:00 PM PSTUpdated: 11/15/2010 08:34:45 AM PST GENEROUS retirement programs that have been irresponsibly managed for decades are pushing the University of California off a financial cliff. President Mark Yudof will ask regents this…

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More Reality Comes to the Regents on Nov. 18

Byuclafaculty

Even more reality will arrive on the morning of Nov. 18 at the Regents, when they take up pensions and retiree health care. The documentation for that session is at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov10/j3.pdf A quick review of that documentation suggests that the $2 for $1 issue is not well explained when borrowing from STIP is discussed. But that is not new; it wasn’t well explained at the campus sessions. In a previous post, you can hear yours truly make that point at the UCLA session. Anyway, in a few decades we can all sing:

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Advice on What Not to Do on the UC Health Plan That I Can Vouch For

Byuclafaculty

Members of the UC health system periodically receive offers for an Amazon or other retail voucher if they fill out a health survey form online. Based on the info filled out on the form, you receive advice on how to improve your health. From the San Francisco Chronicle: Ex-UCSF employee sentenced for voucher scam A former UCSF Medical Center employee was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in federal prison for using the Social Security numbers of fellow workers to complete health surveys so he could receive hundreds of $100 vouchers good for purchases from Amazon.com. Cam Giang,…

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UCLA History: Marion Davies Children’s Clinic

Byuclafaculty

Photo dated Nov. 18, 1959 above shows actress Marion Davies who donated funds for the Marion Davies Children’s Center. Caption reads: Marion Davies, for whom new Marion Davies Children’s Clinic at UCLA Medical Center is to be named, examines architect’s sketch of new facility with Congressman Joe Holt (R-22nd Dist.), left, and UCLA Vice Chancellor William G. Young. Clinic, to be under construction by spring, was made possible by Miss Davies’ gift of $1,900,000 to Medical Center. (From LA Public Library photo collection.) Davies – William Randolph Hearst’s mistress – was not the bimbo depicted in the film “Citizen Kane.”…

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Up, Up, & Away With Employee Health Costs in 2011

Byuclafaculty

Open enrollment begins Oct. 25. Employee costs of health care are going to rise. (Surprised?) You may not recall that UC uses a progressive system in four brackets so that higher paid employees pay more for health care. In 2010, the four annual salary brackets ($ 000s) were $46 and below, $46+ to $92, $92+ to $137, and $137+ and above. The brackets adjust upwards in 2011 to $47 and below, $47+ to $93, $93+ to $140, and $140+ and above. As an example, Anthem Blue Cross PPO for the employee only (no dependents) in the four brackets will cost…

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Audio of UCLA Academic Senate Forum on Post-Employment Benefits: 10-14-10

Byuclafaculty

Audio is now available of the UCLA Academic Senate forum on Post-Employment Benefits and the various options for the pension system and retiree health care. Cellphone photo from the forum is at the left. The audio (video with a still picture) is divided into seven parts due to time limits of Yahoo-video. Participants were Chancellor Block (welcoming remarks), Senate Chair Ann Karagozian, Chair of the campus Council on Planning and Budget David Lopez, Chair of the campus Committee on Faculty Welfare Shane White, and VC for Finance, Budget, and Capital Programs Steve Olsen. Click on the various parts below. PEB…

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UC Manhattan Project Legacy Potentially Blows Up Over Issue of Retiree Health Care

Byuclafaculty

For many years, going back to the Manhattan project, UC Regents were in charge of the “nuclear labs.” Various scandals revolving around lab security arose and the management system was eventually shifted to a consortium involving UC and others. At the time, there was concern about the UC pension implications. Lab employees had been part of the basic pension plan. The question was essentially how the assets of the plan (and the liabilities) would be split off to cover them. There was less attention paid to the issue of retiree health care, an unfunded liability for which, unlike the pension,…