Andy Stern at President Obama's Fiscal Summit

Andy Stern is SEIU's president. He's speaking to President Obama on health care reform.

Follow Up on Anthem's Rate Increase Request

There are two more public hearings on Anthem's rate increase request. The first one is on March 3rd at 5:30 pm at the Wells Conference Center, Room 3, at the University of Maine in Orono. The second one is on March 10th at 5:00 pm at the Talbot Lecture Hall, Luther Bonney Hall at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. The third one, the hearing I mentioned previously, is on March 12th at 9:00 am at the Central Conference Room of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Gardiner Annex, 122 Northern Avenue in Gardiner. Staff members from the Bureau of Insurance will be on hand at the March 3rd and March 10th hearings to assist consumers with other insurance matters. General insurance materials will be available and staff will answer questions. Comments can also be submitted for consideration by the Superintendent of Insurance, Mila Kofman, through US Postal mail or email: Email: Pat.Galouch@maine.gov Mail: Superintendent of Insurance Attn: Pat Galouch 34 State House Station Augusta, Maine 04333 This additional information came to me in an email from Representative David Cotta.

Anthem Requesting Another Rate Hike - Do they really need it?

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (“Anthem”) has filed for approval of proposed revised rates for certain of its individual health insurance products, specifically its HealthChoice, HealthChoice Standard and Basic, and Lumenos Consumer Directed Health Plan products. Anthem proposes revised rates for these products that it asserts will produce an average increase of 14.5%. As identified in its filing, the largest premium increase depending on deductible level and type of contract for HealthChoice is 17.2%, for HealthChoice Standard and Basic is 7.7%, and for Lumenos is 34.1%. As of November 2008 there are 12,049 policyholders who will be affected by the proposed rate revisions. Anthem requests that these rate revisions become effective on May 1, 2009. Does Anthem really need the rate increases? Consider this, they already make a great profit on the policies they sell. Between 2004 and 2007, in Maine, Anthem's profits increased by 89.2%, increasing from $40 million to $75.7 million, while its membership increased over that same period of time at just 2.4%. Anthem's annual profits in 2007 were $75.7 million. Anthem's surplus grew from $177.2 million to $252.1 million over the same time period, 2004 to 2007. What are they doing with all this money? Paying it out to their share holders in the form of dividends, paying it out in the form of bonuses to their CEOs, but certainly not making health care coverage more accessible and more affordable. Just think, with half of those profits, they could have given Dirigo its much needed boost. What an idea! But no, they and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, every year, take Dirigo's savings offset payment to court, challenging the way it is calculated. More corporate greed at the labor and expense of Maine's hard working people. While all this is happening, people are losing their health care coverage because they can no longer afford it. HEALTH CARE SHOULD NOT BE A PROFIT MAKING BUSINESS. NO PROFIT SHOULD BE MADE OFF SICKNESS OR PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. Maine's Bureau of Insurance is holding a public hearing on this proposed rate increase by Anthem. If you're one of these policy holders, or an interested individual as myself, I urge you to attend the public hearing. It will be beginning at 9:00 a.m. on March 12, 2009, in the Central Conference Room at the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Gardiner Annex, 122 Northern Avenue, Gardiner, Maine. Members of the public are invited to attend the hearing. For all the legalese of this hearing, check out the Bureau of Insurance's web page. Anthem's profit figures comes from Insuring Health or Ensuring Profit? A Snapshot of the Health Insurance Industry in the United States, page 21, published by Northwest Federation of Community Organizations in the Summer of 2008. Be patient as the report loads, it takes a second or two.

CHANGE THAT WORKS - Coming to a Living Room Near You

For a moment, imagine if we didn't have to fight the same battles every year in the Maine Legislature over the State Employee Health Insurance Plan and funding for our jobs. Imagine if everyone had health coverage equal to or even better than state workers. Imagine if everyone who wanted to form a union carried their union card in their wallets. Our work in the Maine Legislature every year would sure be a lot easier. Our opponents wouldn't be trying to tear down the health benefits of those lucky enough to have them. Public workers wouldn't have to worry about layoffs or furlough days because our elected leaders would understand that Maine people deserve quality public services, period. It would be easy to write all this off as wishful thinking, but members, staff, family and friends of your union and our international union, SEIU, see a huge opportunity RIGHT NOW to bring about lasting change to improve the lives of working families all across the nation. We're talking about Change that Works - and it's coming to a living room near you. BUILDING GRASSROOTS SUPPORT FOR WORKING FAMILIES Right now, at the direction of our union's Convention and the MSEA-SEIU Board of Directors, over a dozen SEIU organizers working as part of our union's Change that Works campaign are holding personal gatherings with MSEA-SEIU members, their families and friends throughout Maine. These aren't your typical union meetings. They're social gatherings, maybe even potluck suppers, in the homes of our members and their friends and families, in our local community halls and in our work sites. STORIES FROM EVERYDAY PEOPLE LIKE YOU At these gatherings, known as "house meetings," everyday people like you, your co-workers, your friends and neighbors are telling their own stories about health insurance - what works, what doesn't and what can be done about it. They're telling stories about what belonging to a union means to them and how it has improved their lives. They're also hearing that personal stories of workers who have been denied the basic union rights that so many of us in Maine take for granted. SUPPORTING HEALTH CARE FOR EVERYONE AND EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE These discussions are all aimed at building broad-based community education and support for Congress to pass two national initiatives this year:

• Quality, affordable health insurance for everyone;
• Passage of the federal Employee Free Choice Act to make it easier for workers who want union representation to form a union.

Members of our union and other unions all across the nation are determined to build the political will necessary for Congress to pass both national health care legislation and the Employee Free Choice Act.

HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF IT It all starts with you. If you would like to participate in a house meeting in your community and if you have not already been contacted by an SEIU organizer, then please call MSEA-SEIU Political Coordinator Alec Maybarduk right away at 1-800-452-8794 ext. 1122 or 344-7540 or alec.maybarduk@mseaseiu.org

Together, we can bring about CHANGE THAT WORKS. Be a part of it today!

Montana Direct-Care Workers Receive Health Insurance

Last month, 900 Montana direct-care workers who provide Medicaid private duty nursing and personal care services started receiving health insurance under a new program called Health Care for Health Care Workers. The program was approved by the 2007 legislature and is currently up for extension during the legislative session. Under the program, Medicaid providers receive additional funds for health insurance for their workers if they meet certain requirements. Kate Hurley, who oversees Nightingale Nursing and Caregiving and Home Health of Montana, was interviewed by NPR about the proposal. Hurley said the program already stabilized their workforce which is prone to high turnover rates and vacancy. Mike Hanshew, Director of Policy for Montana Health Solutions, who sheparded the program through the legislature, said this program accomplished three important policy goals - providing more Montanans with health insurance, strengthening the long term care workforce, and helping people get off and stay off welfare - with one spending plan. "That makes this program unique," says Hanshew. An editorial in the Helena Independent Record called for "strong support" of the program's expansion as it would allow more people to remain at home. "There's something sadly ironic about people providing health care without having the peace of mind of health insurance themselves," wrote the editor. For more details on the Montana program, visit the Department of Health and Human Services. Allison Lee National Campaign Manager Health Care for Health Care Workers PHI

14,000 Insured Lose Health Coverage Every Day

Mike Hall, February 18, 2009 In December and January, as the nation’s unemployment rate shot upward—hitting 7.6 percent in January—the number of Americans without health insurance neared the 50-million mark. Some 14,000 people a day, nearly 100,000 a week, lost their health insurance during that two-month span, according to a forthcoming analysis by James Kvaal and Ben Furnas, reports the Center for American Progress’ Wonk Room. The growing number of working families that are losing their health care coverage highlights the need for swift action on comprehensive health care reform. The economic recovery package signed yesterday by President Obama offers a health care lifeline for jobless workers. Under the bill, workers who lose their jobs are eligible for a 65 percent subsidy to cover their health care premiums under COBRA for nine months. COBRA is the program that allows workers to maintain for 18 months the same coverage they had through their employer if they can pay the premiums. But those premiums often exceed $1,000 a month, a huge cost for an unemployed worker. The economic recovery bill originally provided broader help for jobless workers, including allowing workers to enroll in Medicaid if they couldn’t afford COBRA even with the new subsides and enabling older workers to remain in COBRA until they qualified for Medicare. But as the Wonk Room points out, negotiators seeking bipartisan support considered Republican objections and stripped those provisions. Still, only three Republicans voted for the stimulus bill. With the economy far from a quick turnaround and job losses continuing to mount, health care experts say the number of people without health insurance could grow to staggering levels—making health care reform even more critical. Says Ron Pollack, president of Families USA: The regrettable absence of the Medicaid coverage provision helps to underscore the importance of enacting meaningful health care reform in the very near future. With the adoption of the economic recovery legislation, it is time to start the health reform process so that legislative action can be completed this year. 1 comment catbear955 on 19.02.2009 One of my brothers’ long-time friends was diagnosed with lung cancer, and then laid off—this COBRA subsidy will definitely mean a better quality of life during this difficult time. from AFL-CIO NOW Blog FYI-Two of the Republican Senators are our own, Senator Olympia Snowe and Senator Susan Collins. The third Republican Senator is Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania.

Report: Higher Union Membership = Higher Wages = Better Economy

Seth Michaels, February 18, 2009 Workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain will be critical to rebuilding a strong economy, says a new report released today that examines the effect of unions on wages and state economies. Unions are Good for the American Economy, written by researchers Karla Walter and David Madland for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, says that increasing union rates would put more money in workers’ pockets, reversing the sharp growth in income inequality that has undermined our economy. In fact, if union membership was as high as it was in 1983, Walter and Madland suggest, employees would earn an estimated $49 billion more in wages and salaries. The report also provides a state-by-state analysis of increased union membership on wages. An increase in the rate of union membership of just 5 percent would increase total wages by $176 million in Nebraska, $503 million in Wisconsin and $852 million in Pennsylvania. These wages would be spread across the entire labor market. The essence of what labor unions do—give workers a stronger voice so that they can get a fair share of the economic growth they help create—is and has always been important to making the economy work for all Americans. And unions only become more important as the economy worsens. One of the primary reasons why our current recession endures is that workers do not have the purchasing power they need to drive our economy…what is sustainable is an economy where workers are adequately rewarded and have the income they need to purchase goods. This is where unions come in. Walter and Madland point to the disconnect between productivity and wages as a major factor in our economic crisis. Indeed, if wages had kept pace with productivity increases, rather than falling behind as they have in recent decades, average wages would be 42.7 percent higher. That’s a sizable share of the economy that workers have lost, undermining consumer purchasing power and economic security—which, in turn, hurt the nation’s entire economy in a vicious downward spiral. The massive loss to workers of the economic growth they created can be traced to a decline in workers’ bargaining power in the labor market. The solution, Walter and Madland contend, is to make it easier for workers to form unions and bargain for a fair share of the value they create. Passing the Employee Free Choice Act and making it harder for management to threaten workers seeking to unionize would be good for American workers. It would help boost workers’ wages and benefits. And putting more money in workers’ pockets would provide a needed boost for the U.S. economy. Increasing unionization is a good way to get out of our current economic troubles. In a time of economic crisis when political leaders are looking for ways to restore balance, rebuild a middle class and improve the lives of working families, this report shows that giving workers the power to form unions and bargain is essential. You can read the whole report here. 3 comments Granny on the Warpath on 19.02.2009 It isn’t just wages and benefits, it is being able to get necessary things like Family Leave and bereavement time without being hassled or having to fight for the time off. It is being able to band together and demand better working conditions and a safer workplace. It is for getting decent working hours and getting paid for those hours. It is for having your rights as an employee taken seriously and problems taken care of instead of having to keep quiet and tolerate those problems to keep your job. No Amnesty on 19.02.2009 E-Verify wouldn’t hurt either. E-Verify is nearly 100% accurate in determining the legality of people applying for jobs in this country yet it was apparently stripped from the stimulus package. It’s set to expire 3/6 without Congressional action. Contact your senators and representatives today and urge them to not only extend E-Verify but make it permanent and mandatory for ALL US employers. E-VERIFY WORKS! union friend on 19.02.2009 What a boost to the economy if people actually earned enough to pay their bills and buy some of the things they want, too. How nice it would be for all Americans to have money left over at the end of the month and actually be able to save some of it!! from AFL-CIO NOW blog