By Jamey Dunn
Under a deal struck between Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration and union officials today, public employees will begin taking over the work of an independent contractor that has been weeding out ineligible applicants for Medicaid benefits.
As part of sweeping Medicaid changes passed last year, the state hired Virginia-based Maximus Health Services to evaluate the eligibility of Medicaid patients. The company checked to see if Medicaid recipients met the income threshold and lived in the state. Maximus then passed on the results of its inquiries to the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the agency reviewed the information before terminating benefits. So far, an estimated 216,000 people have been removed from the program as a result of Maximus’ verification work.
Earlier this year, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 filed a grievance over the state’s contract with Maximus, claiming that it violated its own contract with the state. An arbitrator ruled in favor of AFSCME and ordered Illinois to end its deal with Maximus by December 31. Quinn’s administration appealed the ruling but also entered into negotiations with the AFSCME.
Today they reached a deal that calls for transitioning the work to state employees over the next several months. The plan calls for many of the services currently provided to by Maximus to be transferred to state employees by April 30. It calls for the hiring of 520 DHS employees and an unnamed number of employees at the Department of Health and Family Services. It allows the state to continue to use some Maximus services, such as its data-matching software, call center and mailroom, until 2015. “We want to really focus on making sure that those who are eligible for Medicaid get what they are entitled to by law, [and] those who are not eligible don’t receive what they’re not entitled to. That process will continue aggressively, but we’re going to do it in a way that complies with the arbitrator’s ruling,” Quinn told reporters in Chicago today. Quinn said he moved ahead with a deal instead of continuing to pursue the appeal because he wanted to “move forward as quickly as possible. We don’t want to be in court all next year.”
Republican lawmakers were critical of Quinn’s deal with AFSCME, saying that the governor is failing to defend the very reforms that he touted just a year a ago. “This isn’t a walk back; this is a turn around and sprinting away from the cornerstone of the reforms that were in the [law],” said Mattoon Sen. Dale Righter, who is a key Republican negotiator on Medicaid issues. Righter called Maximus’ work so far
“a stunning success for the taxpayers.”
But members of Quinn’s administration said the same kind of work will continue. “This ruling provides the best and most efficient way forward for taxpayers at this time and continues our momentum in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse,” Julie Hamos, director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, said in a written statement. “It’s important to ensure full compliance with the [law], which this ruling does. We are committed to preserving the Illinois Medicaid program at a lower cost to the state while providing health care for our neediest low-income children and families.” A news release from the department said the number of ineligible enrollees will likely decrease in the future. “The cancellation rate is expected to come down because the reviews started with cases that had been flagged for having a discrepancy. The vast majority were canceled because the client did not respond to a request for verifying information about their income or residency.”
Hinsdale Republican Rep. Patti Bellock, who also worked on Medicaid legislation, said that if Quinn wants to tweak the law, he should have to get approval from lawmakers. “If it needs to be changed, then it should be brought back before the General Assembly.” Republicans are accusing Quinn of making a “backroom deal” with AFSCME that could reduce the overall savings that were projected when the law was passed.
But AFSCME argued in its case to the arbitrator that the state could actually save money by using public employees for the work. “The arbitrator’s order is a victory for Illinois taxpayers,” AFSCME Council 31 Executive Director Henry Bayer said in a written statement. “Wasteful spending on a private contract will be eliminated, trained professional caseworkers will replace unqualified call centers, and state government will ensure that Medicaid is available to those who need it, and cut off from those who don’t.”
Quinn said today in response to his Republican detractors, “I respect everyone, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in court.”
Showing posts with label AFSCME Contract. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFSCME Contract. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Court tosses out lawsuit over public retirees' health care
Jamey Dunn
A judge today sided with the state in a disputed over the cost of public retiree health insurance.
Last year, lawmakers approved and Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure to allow the state to begin charging retired workers premiums for their health care. Many retired state workers and university employees do not pay premiums if they worked for more than 20 years. Those retirees are required to pay for coverage for family members, along with co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs.
State workers sued, arguing that their retiree health benefits were protected, much like pension benefits, by the Illinois Constitution. But Sangamon County Circuit Court Associate Judge Steven Nardulli dismissed their complaints today. “The Pension Code and the [The State Employee Group Insurance Act] are structurally separate and substantially different. They are separately administered and separately funded. They provide benefits that are fundamentally different,” said the ruling. (link via Capitol Fax) “The cost of health insurance premiums are not fixed at the time of retirement and are paid from the General Revenue Fund, as opposed to fixed benefits paid from a protected fund. The fact that there is an indirect or incidental impact on pensions because of the enactment and amendment of the SEIGA does not make the benefits under the SEIGA pensions in nature.”
Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration said retirees should expect to start paying premiums after July 1. “I am pleased with the court’s action today to uphold this important law. This is good news for the taxpayers and another step forward in our effort to restore fiscal stability to Illinois,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.
Senate President John Cullerton said the ruling makes his proposal to change the state’s pension systems seem like a legal possibility. Cullerton supports a proposal that would force employees to choose between their compounded-interest cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) or access to a retiree health care plan. Employees who opted to keep their COLAs would have their pensionable salaries frozen, so no future raises could be considered for benefits. He argues that employees must be given something in exchange for a reduction in pension benefits, and access to the health care plan would be the trade. “The real impact of this ruling is that it reinforces my position that a guarantee of health care access can be negotiated as part of a contractual change to protected pension benefits. Only the benefits found in the Illinois Pension Code are protected by the Pension Clause,” Cullerton said in a prepared statement. “Pension reform is my top priority. While I acknowledge that there are a number of ways to structure a bill, I believe that a reform based on contractual principles of offer, consideration and acceptance is the best way to ensure that the legislation is upheld in court. I will continue to advocate that giving state employees and retirees a choice between cost-of-living allowances and access to health care is the best way forward.”
Union officials say Cullerton’s plan presents a coercive choice and does not offer employees something of value in exchange for benefit cuts.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 backed a class action suit in Randolph County that was rolled into today's ruling. “We are greatly disappointed by today’s decision,” AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said in a prepared statement. “We continue to believe this law impairs the rights of men and women who retired after careers with state government or state universities to obtain health insurance coverage according to the terms in place when they retired. It also violates the constitutional clause that prevents the diminishment of retirement benefits earned by public employees. We intend to consult with the plaintiffs and our union partners about our options going forward.”
AFSCME also announced today that its members ratified a new three-year contract with the state. A tentative agreement was reached last month, after more than a year of negotiations. Under the deal, employees will receive back pay from raises that Quinn previously froze. They will take a pay freeze for the current fiscal year but would see 2 percent increases in the last two years of the contract. Workers also agreed to pay higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles for their health care. Quinn estimates that the move will save the state about $900 million in employee health care costs over the life of the contract. “This new contract takes into account the state’s fiscal challenges, while also recognizing the vitally important work state employees do,” Bayer said.
A judge today sided with the state in a disputed over the cost of public retiree health insurance.
Last year, lawmakers approved and Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure to allow the state to begin charging retired workers premiums for their health care. Many retired state workers and university employees do not pay premiums if they worked for more than 20 years. Those retirees are required to pay for coverage for family members, along with co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs.
State workers sued, arguing that their retiree health benefits were protected, much like pension benefits, by the Illinois Constitution. But Sangamon County Circuit Court Associate Judge Steven Nardulli dismissed their complaints today. “The Pension Code and the [The State Employee Group Insurance Act] are structurally separate and substantially different. They are separately administered and separately funded. They provide benefits that are fundamentally different,” said the ruling. (link via Capitol Fax) “The cost of health insurance premiums are not fixed at the time of retirement and are paid from the General Revenue Fund, as opposed to fixed benefits paid from a protected fund. The fact that there is an indirect or incidental impact on pensions because of the enactment and amendment of the SEIGA does not make the benefits under the SEIGA pensions in nature.”
Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration said retirees should expect to start paying premiums after July 1. “I am pleased with the court’s action today to uphold this important law. This is good news for the taxpayers and another step forward in our effort to restore fiscal stability to Illinois,” Quinn said in a prepared statement.
Senate President John Cullerton said the ruling makes his proposal to change the state’s pension systems seem like a legal possibility. Cullerton supports a proposal that would force employees to choose between their compounded-interest cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) or access to a retiree health care plan. Employees who opted to keep their COLAs would have their pensionable salaries frozen, so no future raises could be considered for benefits. He argues that employees must be given something in exchange for a reduction in pension benefits, and access to the health care plan would be the trade. “The real impact of this ruling is that it reinforces my position that a guarantee of health care access can be negotiated as part of a contractual change to protected pension benefits. Only the benefits found in the Illinois Pension Code are protected by the Pension Clause,” Cullerton said in a prepared statement. “Pension reform is my top priority. While I acknowledge that there are a number of ways to structure a bill, I believe that a reform based on contractual principles of offer, consideration and acceptance is the best way to ensure that the legislation is upheld in court. I will continue to advocate that giving state employees and retirees a choice between cost-of-living allowances and access to health care is the best way forward.”
Union officials say Cullerton’s plan presents a coercive choice and does not offer employees something of value in exchange for benefit cuts.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 backed a class action suit in Randolph County that was rolled into today's ruling. “We are greatly disappointed by today’s decision,” AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said in a prepared statement. “We continue to believe this law impairs the rights of men and women who retired after careers with state government or state universities to obtain health insurance coverage according to the terms in place when they retired. It also violates the constitutional clause that prevents the diminishment of retirement benefits earned by public employees. We intend to consult with the plaintiffs and our union partners about our options going forward.”
AFSCME also announced today that its members ratified a new three-year contract with the state. A tentative agreement was reached last month, after more than a year of negotiations. Under the deal, employees will receive back pay from raises that Quinn previously froze. They will take a pay freeze for the current fiscal year but would see 2 percent increases in the last two years of the contract. Workers also agreed to pay higher premiums, co-pays and deductibles for their health care. Quinn estimates that the move will save the state about $900 million in employee health care costs over the life of the contract. “This new contract takes into account the state’s fiscal challenges, while also recognizing the vitally important work state employees do,” Bayer said.
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