health care

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Union for Docs at Student Health Centers

Byuclafaculty

From the Daily Bruin: On Thursday, the University of California formally recognized the Union of American Physicians and Dentists as the exclusive representative of doctors working at any of the student health centers. The campaign to unionize began with a few University doctors who reached out to the union in December 2012. Physicians voted in April to appeal to the UC to recognize the union. Doctors were motivated to join the union because they want more input and autonomy in running the UC student health centers, said Dr. Stuart Bussey, president of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists… Full…

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Letter from the Chair of the UCLA Faculty Assn.

Byuclafaculty

Dear Colleagues,The UCLA Faculty Association has a new Executive Board this year, and a full slate of complex issues to address. We appreciate your continued support, and encourage you to get involved in your FA.As I’m sure you are aware, there have been significant changes to the health insurance offerings for University of California employees.  The Faculty Associations at UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside have issued strongly-worded letters of protest about the lack of choices in the new plan offerings, and the lack of transparency in the process of choosing the options.The UCLA Faculty Association also has been hearing…

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Limited Order Bars Only About 50 Workers from UC One-Day Strike Today

Byuclafaculty

Westwood demonstration during prior 2-day strike We noted yesterday that UC sought an order through PERB barring certain critical workers from the one-day strike today. According to the State Worker blog of the Sacramento Bee: …A judge has banned a relative handful of employees who provide patient care at University of California medical facilities from participating in a statewide strike set for Wednesday.  Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David I. Brown said that a strike by about 50 AFSCME-covered employees, mostly respiratory theratpists, would “create a substantial and imminent threat to the health and safety of the public and patients…

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Listen to Regents Discuss Retiree Health on Nov. 14, 2013

Byuclafaculty

We’ll post the audio for the entire Nov. 14 Regents meeting subsequently.  However, below is a link just to a discussion of the issue of retiree health.  As blog readers will likely know, as part of the open enrollment, UC retirees who are out of state are being dropped from UC programs and given a flat dollar contribution to buy their own policies from local exchanges.  An external contractor – Extend Health – has been engaged to provide counseling for out-of-state retirees. According to the back and forth between regents and UC administrators, this change will drop the liability to…

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Info Needed on Open Enrollment Issues

Byuclafaculty

We are getting anecdotal reports of problems encountered during the UC open enrollment period for the various health plans.  If you are having problems at any UC campus, either with the actual plans that are now available or with the process of obtaining information and enrollment, let us know.  We are aware of problems with access to hospitals at Santa Barbara and Riverside and with out-of-California retirees who are being bumped off UC plans and given the phone number of an external consultant.  But if you have more detailed points on any of those issues, we would like to know….

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Listen to the UC Regents: Nov. 12, 2013

Byuclafaculty

As blog readers will know, we post audio of Regents meetings because the current regental policy is only to post their meetings for a year.  But the meetings live on here!  Yours truly has various commitments this week that will slow the posting.  But a link to yesterday’s meeting is below. The public comment session included speakers complaining about lack of affirmative action at UC (blocked by Prop 209), inadequate services for disabled students (including those with mental problems), and complaints about the appointment of Janet Napolitano.  The last took up a good deal of time with demands that the…

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Really No Smoking (or Chewing)

Byuclafaculty

From the Oakland Tribune: [excerpt] A systemwide smoking ban at University of California campuses includes the controversial electronic cigarette, a tobacco smoking device whose backers claim is safer than traditional smokes. The ban takes effect Jan. 2 and includes smokeless tobacco, or chew. About 10 percent of UC employees smoke cigarettes, and 8 percent of students smoke, according to a fact sheet compiled by the university. The information kit does not say how many use the new electronic cigarettes on UC campuses or in the state, but a lobbying group for the retailers who sell the devices says about 4…

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The Regents are Coming

Byuclafaculty

Regents: 1964 Edition In fact, there will be a meeting tomorrow of the Regents Committee on Investments, primarily to review returns on the UC portfolios and those of the campus foundations.  See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov5.html Next week’s meetings (Nov. 12-14) are beginning to be posted as of this morning.  Agenda items are available but not detailed attachments.  See:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/nov13.html You might be curious to know about an item entitled “Participation in Joint Venture to Establish and Operate a Rehabilitation Hospital, Los Angeles Campus.”  Too bad if you are.  It will be discussed only in a closed session:http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/nov13/hsx.pdf

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Possible UC strike

Byuclafaculty

Demonstration in Westwood after previous strike From the LA Times: Members of the union that represents 22,000 service workers and patient care employees at UC campuses and hospitals have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a possible strike in the future if a contract agreement is not reached, officials said Friday. Ninety-six percent of the members of AFSCME 3299 voted to allow union leaders to call a strike if they decide it is necessary. If a strike happens, it would be the second this year and a potentially wider one, possibly affecting the 10 campuses and the five medical centers. In late…

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Hints While You Puzzle Through Your Health Insurance Options from a Blog Reader

Byuclafaculty

As we are coming up to the open enrollment period for the various health insurance options, Prof. Bill Zame of Economics sent me an email with a cautionary note readers may want to consider.  (Edited excerpt): When insurance plans use the term “out of pocket maximums,” they do not mean what an ordinary lay person would mean by the term. As used by the insurance industry and the [open enrollment] plans, only healthcare expenses that are “ordinary and necessary” (by [industry] standards) are included toward  “out of pocket maximums” and only charges that are deemed to be in the range normally…