Organized Labor's letter to Speaker Dillon's regarding his health insurance proposal

You can find the letter here that organized labor sent to Speaker Dillon this week regarding his proposal to pool health insurance benefits for public sector employees.

Demand Speaker Dillon provide facts on his plan

By now, you are seeing all kinds of articles and stories about Speaker Dillon's proposed plan to place all public employee into a statewide health care plan. The results of this plan would slash your health coverage and strip your rights to bargain about them. His proposal is anti-union, anti-collective bargaining and anti-public school employee. He maintains his idea could save up to $900 million, but his numbers don’t add up and he won’t provide information or legislation to back up his claims.

This plan has gotten a lot of press – and MEA has been at the heart of this fight for the health care that keeps you and your family safe. But to win this debate, we continue to need your help in getting the facts out and ensure that your legislators in Lansing understand how strongly we oppose the Speaker’s scheme (which is nothing more than a PR stunt to fuel his run for governor).

What are the facts?

• During the past three years, Michigan’s school employees have already saved taxpayers more than $700 million in health insurance costs by accepting lower cost health coverage or paying more out of pocket for copays and premiums.
• Through salary and wage concessions during the past three years, Michigan school employees have saved taxpayers an additional $200 million. That’s almost a billion dollars in savings for Michigan taxpayers paid for by public school employees alone. And state and municipal employees are giving in huge numbers as well.
• In order to save $900 million, Speaker Dillon's plan would have to massively cut school employee health care premiums – some by as much as half. That's not efficiency or a small trim – that's gutting the health insurance of thousands of Michigan workers and their families.
• Savings can’t come from efficiency alone. In fact, research shows that once you get more than 20,000 people in a health care pool, there are no more cost savings to be gained – and virtually all public employees are already in pools bigger than that.
• As taxpayers, this isn’t a savings to you – it’s simply a cost shift that attempts, yet again, to balance the budget on your back.
• Dillon’s plan will eliminate any local control over costs and benefits. Why should we strip local school districts and local governments of the ability to collectively bargain with employees to make decisions that are right for their communities?
• Health care is a national problem that requires a national solution – one that our leaders in Washington are working on right now. For the first time, Washington is on the verge of actually controlling the cost of health care and expanding coverage to all Americans. Speaker Dillon’s plan does neither.

Your legislators in Lansing need to hear these facts. They need to stand up and demand that the Speaker provide details and legislation to back up his claims. They need to defend the health care and bargaining rights of half a million Michigan public workers and their families.

Take time to contact your legislators and communicate the points above.