Topic: Healthcare Reform
Virtual Classified Conference educates, unites, entertains
PHOTO GALLERY – How the pandemic has changed our unions
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CFT capped an unforgettable year with its first virtual Council of Classified Employees conference. The November 14 online meeting focused exclusively on life with the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were also warm moments of old friends seeing each other, the occasional technical glitch, and a madcap show of goofy eyeglasses.
Part-timer health benefits: The successes and challenges ahead
Among the many challenges that part-time, or contingent faculty face, health care benefits, or rather, the lack thereof, has been one of the most significant.
According to Bloomberg, healthcare is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States, and in spite of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, in March 2010, the number of bankruptcies attributed to healthcare costs tripled in 2017, while the general rate of bankruptcies fell overall.
Medicare-for-All could free billions for our classrooms
Most American schools and colleges pay for employee healthcare out of their budgets. Education activists are enthusiastic that a Medicare-for-All approach for faculty and staff would free up billions of dollars for classrooms.
Los Angeles schools, for example, could cut their current $1 billion healthcare bill in half, according to John Perez, a retired president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
What does the Affordable Care Act really mean for part-time faculty?
The Affordable Care Act has made it possible for some previously uninsured part-time faculty to get healthcare coverage. For others, coverage has become more affordable. Available subsidies, along with customizable combinations of premiums and deductibles, may make going on the exchange worthwhile.
Affordable Care Act: Providing options to part-time workers
Three part-time educators do the math, find different ways to meet their
healthcare needs
Lisa Agcaoili nervously waited to speak with a Covered California counselor in a West Los Angeles College cafeteria, where thousands of people had come to a Health and Enrollment Fair for solid information about their options under the Affordable Care Act.
Affordable Care Act helps uninsured part-time workers
Lisa Agcaoili paces nervously as she waits to speak with a Covered California counselor in a West Los Angeles College cafeteria. Thousands of people have come to a Health and Enrollment Fair for solid information about their options under the Affordable Care Act.
Agcaoili hasn’t had insurance in the more than 20 years she has worked for the Lawndale Elementary School District. The part-time instructional assistant works fewer than 30 hours a week and isn’t eligible for district health plans. She is over 50 and suffers migraines daily.
The Education Coalition for Health Care Reform
CFT participates in labor-management watchdog group
By Marty Hittelman, CFT Senior Vice President
The CFT and other education labor groups have joined with administrative and school board organizations in the Education Coalition for Health Care Reform to find a way to stabilize costs while increasing quality. The group is determined to address the systemic reasons for high cost and low-quality health care.
We are committed to shifting from just paying higher prices to joint action against industry price gouging and poor-quality health care. CFT Field Representative Greg Eddy and I have been representing the CFT at these joint labor-management meetings.