UPS Health Benefits Shock for Retired Union Employees

[Bagels]

Rates go up when the amount the insurance company pays for medical procedures\drugs goes up. If you cover more people, you have more cost. If you ever have someone in your family have an accident (or worse - cancer etc) you'll know just one person can have bills that are in the hundreds of thousands. If you cover a lot more people, odds are a few will have those hundreds of thousands in bills, as well as others with the tens of thousands etc.

One of the reasons hospital bills are so high is that paying patients are paying for a portion of nonpaying patient's bills. Theoretically, if everybody had insurance, individual hospital bills would drop & thus what insurances are paying overall would either decrease, stay the same or slightly increase. But really, nobody knows how this will play out -- they're just guessing.

But to be against health care reform is just silly. ANY OF US could be in position of being uninsured soon -- job termination, unable to work for whatever reason, etc. *@$% and moan all you want about ObamaCare, but see how good the current system is when you have no insurance, and are told "no, you're uninsurable" or quoted $1,000/month premiums when you attempt to get it. I certainly don't agree wholly with ObamaCare, but I recognize the need for health care reform in this country. Any type of insurance is a socialist idea. Access to affordable health care should be a fundamental right.

 

[willybad]

I cant find anywhere that it says affordable insurance was promised, wish I could.
if Fls votes were counted first he still would be elected. How about when fls votes were counted and Bush got the presidency anyway.

ok,1 more time,is there anything i can do to stop my insurance from going up 10 times the price u.p.s. told me it was going to cost me when i retired?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

ok,1 more time,is there anything i can do to stop my insurance from going up 10 times the price u.p.s. told me it was going to cost me when i retired?

No---there is nothing you can do as this is a nasty negotiating ploy on the part of the company. Your premiums will most likely go up but not nearly as much as the letter would like you to believe. The intent of the letter is for the retirees to put pressure on the union.

 

[kumet]

ok,1 more time,is there anything i can do to stop my insurance from going up 10 times the price u.p.s. told me it was going to cost me when i retired?

nothing happening till August all we can do is remind current employes that some day they might retire.

 

[Catatonic]

That's why they have contract negotiations.

No---there is nothing you can do as this is a nasty negotiating ploy on the part of the company. Your premiums will most likely go up but not nearly as much as the letter would like you to believe. The intent of the letter is for the retirees to put pressure on the union.

nothing happening till August all we can do is remind current employes that some day they might retire.

It appears to be an effective negotiation tactic on the part of UPS.
There is one great big old pot of money.
Make sure that your retiree health insurance gets taken care of first before active employees are considered.
I'm sure the active employees will take care of the retirees ... hopefully better than the part-timers.

 

[willybad]

nothing happening till August all we can do is remind current employes that some day they might retire.

No---there is nothing you can do as this is a nasty negotiating ploy on the part of the company. Your premiums will most likely go up but not nearly as much as the letter would like you to believe. The intent of the letter is for the retirees to put pressure on the union.

thanks,kinda panicking.this would mean around 20% of my net income gone ,and a difference of over $70,000 if i can't get medicaid til age 65.(if the insurance never goes up again till then)

 

[Ms.PacMan]

Rates go up when the amount the insurance company pays for medical procedures\drugs goes up. If you cover more people, you have more cost. If you ever have someone in your family have an accident (or worse - cancer etc) you'll know just one person can have bills that are in the hundreds of thousands. If you cover a lot more people, odds are a few will have those hundreds of thousands in bills, as well as others with the tens of thousands etc.

Last try, then I give up.

IslandFox stated that everyone was paying "children or not" to cover the up to 26yr olds. Yes, I agree that increasing rates is one way to cover more people, as you said, but they didn't do that - there is also another way....reduce current benefits to cover additional costs, which is what they did/do by not paying for children's wellness/physicals every other year.

I actually thought it was an ingenious and very equitable solution because it only effects participants who have children - they were the ones benefiting from the new legislation covering older children and benefits to younger children were reduced to offset the cost.

 

[Bagels]

Last try, then I give up.

IslandFox stated that everyone was paying "children or not" to cover the up to 26yr olds. Yes, I agree that increasing rates is one way to cover more people, as you said, but they didn't do that - there is also another way....reduce current benefits to cover additional costs, which is what they did/do by not paying for children's wellness/physicals every other year.

I actually thought it was an ingenious and very equitable solution because it only effects participants who have children - they were the ones benefiting from the new legislation covering older children and benefits to younger children were reduced to offset the cost.

It's worth mentioning that only 2.5M people in the 19-25 age bracket added themselves back to their parents' health insurance as a result of ObamaCare; there's over 20M people in that age bracket living within this country. Many within this age bracket are able to acquire cheaper insurance on their own through some source other than their parents, and many were already eligible due to various reasons (state laws & enrollment in college being among them).

 

[brownmonster]

ok,1 more time,is there anything i can do to stop my insurance from going up 10 times the price u.p.s. told me it was going to cost me when i retired?

This is the same company that many wished would take over the pension and health and welfare back in 97 because they could no longer trust the union.

 

[reydluap]

This topic is just not a contract issue................... Teamsters are not alone.

Anger, frustration at Wellmark rate-hike hearing | Local News - KCCI Home

 

[TechGrrl]

ok,1 more time,is there anything i can do to stop my insurance from going up 10 times the price u.p.s. told me it was going to cost me when i retired?

To repeat something I've said before: going into the negotiations, UPS has a pot of money. The negotiations will decide how that pot is divided between wages, health benefits, and pension contributions. $50 per month is untenable when the average premiums for group insurance is around $9000 per year for singles, and $13000 per year for families. That's GROUP insurance purchased by large employers. Small businesses and individuals can't touch those prices.

So Teamster retirees need to make their voices heard, but since they don't vote, good luck getting any traction from the negotiating committee.

 

[willybad]

i called the benefits service center.they told me this does not have anything to do with the contract.this is going to happen regardless of what happens with the contract.on aug.1 they will take $495 out of my checking account / month,instead of the $50 they are taking out now.if there are insufficient funds,i will be cancelled,with no way to get my insurance back.i asked if this means next jan.they can raise it from $495 to $4950/mo.she said it probably woulnd't go up 10 times every year,but each year it can go up.so i will loose 20 % of my net income starting 8/1/2013.then maybe another 20% each year until in 5 years the insurance will cost 20% more than my annual income.i hope obamacare is going strong at that point because i will have no insurance through ups.the only silver lining to this cloud is that as soon as there are insufficient funds in my checking account to pay the insurance .they will cancel me and i will have $50 more income/mo. than i have now.at that point i can just quit getting any medical treatment,die,and help keep the pension fund going longer.

 

[pretender]

i called the benefits service center.they told me this does not have anything to do with the contract.this is going to happen regardless of what happens with the contract.on aug.1 they will take $495 out of my checking account / month,instead of the $50 they are taking out now.if there are insufficient funds,i will be cancelled,with no way to get my insurance back.i asked if this means next jan.they can raise it from $495 to $4950/mo.she said it probably woulnd't go up 10 times every year,but each year it can go up.so i will loose 20 % of my net income starting 8/1/2013.then maybe another 20% each year until in 5 years the insurance will cost 20% more than my annual income.i hope obamacare is going strong at that point because i will have no insurance through ups.the only silver lining to this cloud is that as soon as there are insufficient funds in my checking account to pay the insurance .they will cancel me and i will have $50 more income/mo. than i have now.at that point i can just quit getting any medical treatment,die,and help keep the pension fund going longer.

I am not saying that the premiums won't go up in August, but I don't think that anyone at the benefits service center would know one way or the other...

 

[Jones]

I am not saying that the premiums won't go up in August, but I don't think that anyone at the benefits service center would know one way or the other...

And they are definitely not going to say anything about the contract one way or the other. I hope you keep the deal you have but it would not surprise me to see some form of increase, $50 a month might be unsustainable.

 

[104Feeder]

hall is not amused.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

hall is not amused.

Advantage---UPS.

 

[beentheredonethat]

Last try, then I give up.

IslandFox stated that everyone was paying "children or not" to cover the up to 26yr olds. Yes, I agree that increasing rates is one way to cover more people, as you said, but they didn't do that - there is also another way....reduce current benefits to cover additional costs, which is what they did/do by not paying for children's wellness/physicals every other year.

I actually thought it was an ingenious and very equitable solution because it only effects participants who have children - they were the ones benefiting from the new legislation covering older children and benefits to younger children were reduced to offset the cost.

Keep in mind, this is an insurance plan for "RETIREES" , I think if you did a count, the number of retirees that do have and will have children on their insurance is relatively small. I would also bet similar to the original poster indicated for his case. Children who are on the plan will have a higher proportion then the regular population with extra health care needs. Cutting some physicals will reduce cost, I agree. However, that is relatively minor in my opinion compared to the big ticket items. Many, many many people who are in their 50's and 60's start visiting the Dr a lot more and start needing more medical care due to cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases etc. THose are big ticket medical procedures.

Personally, I hope long term the union does negotiate something better then what the OP reported he will have to pay. I don't see being able to retire at 55 (with 35 years in) I see the cost of health care continually increasing and I may not be able to afford to retire until 60 at the minimum due to the costs of health insurance.

 

[Bagels]

Keep in mind, this is an insurance plan for "RETIREES" , I think if you did a count, the number of retirees that do have and will have children on their insurance is relatively small. I would also bet similar to the original poster indicated for his case. Children who are on the plan will have a higher proportion then the regular population with extra health care needs. Cutting some physicals will reduce cost, I agree. However, that is relatively minor in my opinion compared to the big ticket items. Many, many many people who are in their 50's and 60's start visiting the Dr a lot more and start needing more medical care due to cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases etc. THose are big ticket medical procedures.

Personally, I hope long term the union does negotiate something better then what the OP reported he will have to pay. I don't see being able to retire at 55 (with 35 years in) I see the cost of health care continually increasing and I may not be able to afford to retire until 60 at the minimum due to the costs of health insurance.

I'm uncertain as to what you're getting at. Ms.PacMan was responding to IslandFox, who ignorantly blamed UPS's attempt to escalate retiree premiums on ObamaCare. I've yet to see any statistics regarding the number of 19-26yo UPSers added back to their insurance, but nationally, it's just over 10%. One of the reason's the number's so low is that 19-26 is part of an age bracket with VERY LOW health care costs, thus many are able to purchase insurance cheaply on the open market. Given the low or no premiums for UPSers, I suspect the percentage is higher, but given the LOW costs of insuring these people, it's an ignorant assumption to blame this provision on UPS's retriement premiums.

Obviously, older adults account for the HIGHEST health care costs. And the US population is aging, with massive numbers of baby boomers retiring. Thus, it's unsurprising UPS is seeking to recover some of its cost - although I agree the number tossed out is a negotiation tactic. That said, retiree health insurance is a burden on many companies, and has been a contributing factor toward many going bankrupt. Few companies offer it these days, and the ones that do typically demand premiums near (or even above) what UPS proposed. Because of the strength of the union, I wouldn't expect UPSers to pay that amount, but I would expect them to endure significantly hikes. But they should be grateful they have it.

 

[Ms.PacMan]

One of the reason's the number's so low is that 19-26 is part of an age bracket with VERY LOW health care costs, thus many are able to purchase insurance cheaply on the open market.

My son graduates college in May and starts his new job in June. His insurance will cost him $1.86/mo with $3K max out of pocket.

I think increases would have occurred regardless of the Affordable Care Act and I am personally withholding judgement on Obamacare for now because it may end up being the only thing that saves those baby boomers who don't fare so well financially going into retirement.

 

[beentheredonethat]

I'm uncertain as to what you're getting at. Ms.PacMan was responding to IslandFox, who ignorantly blamed UPS's attempt to escalate retiree premiums on ObamaCare. I've yet to see any statistics regarding the number of 19-26yo UPSers added back to their insurance, but nationally, it's just over 10%. One of the reason's the number's so low is that 19-26 is part of an age bracket with VERY LOW health care costs, thus many are able to purchase insurance cheaply on the open market. Given the low or no premiums for UPSers, I suspect the percentage is higher, but given the LOW costs of insuring these people, it's an ignorant assumption to blame this provision on UPS's retriement premiums.

Obviously, older adults account for the HIGHEST health care costs. And the US population is aging, with massive numbers of baby boomers retiring. Thus, it's unsurprising UPS is seeking to recover some of its cost - although I agree the number tossed out is a negotiation tactic. That said, retiree health insurance is a burden on many companies, and has been a contributing factor toward many going bankrupt. Few companies offer it these days, and the ones that do typically demand premiums near (or even above) what UPS proposed. Because of the strength of the union, I wouldn't expect UPSers to pay that amount, but I would expect them to endure significantly hikes. But they should be grateful they have it.

Bagels, She quoted me and mentioned Island Fox. That's why I responded. Also, she had quoted me earlier and indicated last time. So I assumed the majority was pointed at me.