WHAT NOW??? Although Mayor Wharton may be using the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare as a crutch to force folks off his responsibility list!!! In this current situation it is EXTREMELY important that as the victims we stay FOCUSED on solutions!!! The blame game will not help us NOW!!! We NEED to launch a QUICK outreach campaign to raise public AWARENESS!!! We ONLY have 9 days before the next Personnel Committee meeting!!! We NEED a wave of public sentiment backing us before that meeting!!!!!!!!! I do still have questions regarding the current ALTERNATIVE Plan, but the premium for the NEW Premier Plan DOES stay the same (NO 24% INCREASE) on the repackaged BASIC plan!!! The Out-of-Pocket Max per is $3,000 per person or $7,000 per family (IF) you have a dependent. That means for RETIREES it is only $6,000 or $3,000 per person!!! Therefore, unless you AND your wife are very ill at the SAME time... you will most likely only have to pay $3,000 before your policy will convert to 100% coverage. If Matthew Tomak is correct... every time you go to the doctor your co-pay will come off that $3,000!!! Your deductible will also come off that $3,000!!! AGAIN, your premium will remain the same!!! ** This coverage ONLY applies to IN-NETWORK coverage!!! Would I rather keep 100% coverage with NO premium increase??? You bet your sweet A#@!!! hahahha Folks... WE DONT have a CONTRACT!!! We have a MEMORANDUM of UNDERSTANDING... which states the City of Memphis CAN change insurance, premiums, etc. YES, there is some legalese that the attorney can navigate and with a compassionate judge who is not associated with Mayor Wharton or the administration we have a chance we will WIN in court!!! If ALL the attorneys were 100% IRONCLAD we could WIN, we would already be in court!!! They have chosen the lawsuit as a last ditch, HAIL MARY strategy!!! They have more facts and I doubt they have not made this decision lightly!!! I HOPE they are RIGHT!!! Time will tell!!! So, it is what it is!!! The decision has been made!!! The strategy has been chosen!!! DONE DEAL!!! So what CAN we do??? We CAN support the unions and ACRE or get mad at them??? Each person has to decide!!! If they do NOT sell the Personnel committee on the Alternative Plan. We WILL be going to court!!! If they do, we will get a lot better deal than Mayor Wharton is offering!!! It is not going to stay the same either way!!! We are going to see this again next year!!! I am going to spend the NEXT 9 days trying to raise public awareness to support us... PERIOD!!! The PR campaign will center around VOTE THE BENIFTS BACK!!! Again, as of RIGHT this moment... the budget is passed!!! Mayor Wharton has already won!!! We have (2) options!!! Try to get the committee to accept an Alternative Plan with the same savings to the city or take it to court and hope we win!!! Both are a gamble and neither have guarantees!!! Each person has to do as their conscious leads!!! That is what I am doing!!! I totally respect each persons right to their own position. My main goal of this site is to present the facts!!! of course there is a slight slant as I see things, but I try to stick to the facts!!! :)
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 23:34:55 +0000