Corpus Christi Fire Department

[EddieA]

Greetings all. Judging by the lack of activity on this site I assume everyone is okay with the recent insurance hike. Or maybe everyone is just grumbling and hoping the "Union" will do something. Don't get your hopes up. Increases are likely to continue for the forseeable future. We have had it pretty good for a long time as far as insurance is concerned. I know a little about this. My wife has been in the Med. Ins. business since 1980. She tells me that her co. could not sell our plan to a same size business in the private sector for less than 3 times what we and the city pay. Things like $100 deductibles, $0 generic $10 brand name drug benefits...are a thing of the past. She also says that retirees on our plan create an unwinnable situation because retiree numbers will continue to grow and active firefighters will stay fairly constant. All that being said I still think the City is gouging us somehow. If the city is using the same criteria for all 3 city plans (population demographics, recent claims, health costs in ths area), how can we be going up 30%, the cops 0% and city emp. 10%.? Especially the cops ! Their plan is every bit as good (costly)as ours and I have been told they have PD retirees on their plan also. There is no way they are healthier than us. And by the way, in case you are wondering why your numbers add up to more than 30%, that 30% is the increase to the total premium, not 30 % of just your portion. Example...if you pay $100 and the city's cut is $200, that is a total premium of $300. 30% of that is $90. We split all increases with the city 50/50, or $45 for you and $45 for the city. That $45 is a 45% increase for you and a 22.5% increase for them ! When you do the math you can see that over time these increases will kill us. I hope the recent grievence that was filed and/or the planned lawsuit will change things, but I am not counting on it. I think the day is coming that we as a union will have to make some tough choices. I have been around for 25 yrs. I have seen salaries and other benefits (including medical) improve greatly over the years. However, if things don't change, I can see all future raises completely swallowed up by insurance premiums. I can see in the not to distant future our present plan costing $500 or more per pay day. All you youngsters need to ponder those numbers.

[sbowers]

It truly is sad that so many want to "sit-back" and expect a few people to battle the city on this issue. We have all seen that there is POWER in NUMBERS.
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"Never Forget - 343"

[EddieA]

I am not sure anyone reads this site any more, but on the off chance some of you do...I will give some opinions. Approx. 1 year ago I posted some thoughts about the proposed insurance increases. Well that time is upon us again. Last year the proposed amount was 30%, now it is 34%. For family coverage it amounts to $312 per pay day. In last years post I said that the time was fast approaching that we as a union body would have to make some hard choices. Looks like that time is now ! We were lucky last year because we were able to convince the council that the large increase was unwarranted. After making a couple of calls I don't think we will be able to reduce the increase this time. I believe under our current plan, future increases will be unsustainable for most of us. It is unlikely we will see any decent raises in the next contract. So if we are looking at a 2% per yr. raise (if we're lucky) for the next contract, can any of us afford to eat 25,30,35% insurance increases for the next several years ? My guess is no. I also think our options become more limited as time goes by. As I said last year, we have a great plan. It is a plan that is unaffordable in the private sector according to my wife who has worked in insurance for 28 yrs. It is fast becoming unaffordable for us ! In order to make ins. more affordable, things must change. The younger members of this union must become more informed and get involved in the collective bargaining process. If something is not done, I believe family coverage will cost over $500 per pay day by 2015. Can you afford that...? I can't ! We must make those hard choices soon !!