NYC Employee PPO - Getting Information
It's easy to know who not to trust
There’s a lot of discussion of the proposed new healthcare plan for in-service employees and pre-Medicare retirees. But not much of it is trustworthy.
On the one hand we have leadership loyalists, Unity supporters, who say yes when so instructed. They are not sharing information, but scripts. Even smart and pleasant people, when ordered to sell something - can end up sounding like salesmen. Why would anyone trust someone who was going to support this no matter what was inside?
On the other hand, we have people who are driven completely by their opposition to Unity. They knew they were voting no before any details were released. They search for reasons to oppose, and construct what might be wrong, based on a lack of information. They are loud, insistent, and driven by political considerations - not by the needs of our members. Why would anyone trust someone who was going to oppose this no matter what was inside?
When I left the Professional Staff Congress’ zoom last Wednesday, I did not know which way their Delegate Assembly would vote (ultimately they instructed, I believe, their reps to abstain at the MLC). I understood some strengths of the plan, and some concerns. And I was left with more questions. But I also trusted that I had gotten some real answers.
All of last Wednesday’s PSC information zoom:
The opening 20 minutes or so are presentation - James Davis, PSC President, Debbie Bell, PSC’s retired Executive Director, and Barbara Caress, a healthcare policy expert from the Zicklin School at Baruch College - the next almost 10 minutes are summary (Davis) - and the next hour and 15 minutes are Q&A.
I would suggest that James Davis’ summary is a good place to start, though perhaps it is easier to follow after listening to the opening. In any case, the summary runs from about 26:30 to 34:50
The Q&A is quite rich - PSCers have some of the same concerns, some different concerns, from us. There were at least two UFT/PSC members who asked questions. I think the Mamdani question is interesting. I notice that the PSC strongly supports self-insurance as a cost-savings measure.