November 2007

Statewide Healthcare Bill Introduced

The Pennsylvania legislature has introduced HB 1841, a bill that would create a state-wide healthcare plan for public education employees. The reasons for this measure are two-fold: 1)to combat the rising costs of employee health care through a larger distribution of the risk pool and the market leverage to negotiate the lowest possible premiums; and 2)to remove from contract bargaining one of the most contentious issues and thereby reducing the likelihood of a work stoppage. While it is still in the early stages of the legislative process, the bill has bipartisan support and the governor endorses the preliminary plan design. The PSEA believes this bill, currently in committee, stands a good chance of passage during the current legislative session and, therefore, has deemed it a high priority to inform the membership of its basic provisions (the actual bill is 63 pages). Here they are:

• The bill would create a 12 member Public School Employees’ Benefit Board – this representative group will be the central component of the new law
• The Board would consist of twelve members from three constituency groups (four from each group): Union (PSEA), school districts (PASB), and state government
• A “qualified majority” of all three groups would be necessary to make decisions on design and implementation of plan provisions, cost-sharing requirements, eligibility criteria, adding providers, using fund payments, funding responsibilities, cost containment measures, etc. A qualified majority is the majority vote of Board members, including at least two members of each stakeholder group.
• The Board will first study the feasibility of creating a statewide health plan and the cost savings to districts and employees. If it concludes that a statewide plan would be cost effective and more efficient it will move ahead with the plan design phase.
• A statewide plan would be created that provides “quality health care benefits at a level consistent with those now provided to most school employees through existing collective bargaining contracts”. Rates would be set regionally but the risk pool could be regional or state-wide. The basic plan would be the same across the state and provide hospital, medical/surgical, major medical, prescription drug coverage and other supplemental coverage set by the Board.
• All school districts would be required to move into the plan at the end of their current contract with the first year cost capped at no higher than the premium rates of the last year of the contract.

The Mideastern Region is very fortunate to have President-Elect Jim Sando on the PSEA advisory committee for this important piece of legislation. Even if this legislation moves through Harrisburg at deliberate speed, the reality of statewide healthcare is at least two years away. The LMEA will monitor the progress of HB 1841 and if the need should arise an alert will be sent out encouraging members to contact their legislators. See next month’s Apple Core for an update or read more online at www.psea.org.

PDE Changes to Master Equivalency Applications

The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently finalized the changes it is making to its review of Master’s Equivalency (MEQ) applications. The changes will take effect for courses taken after November 1, 2007. The PDE has decided to more strictly adhere to the language of Chapter 49 which states “A minimum of 18 academic graduate credits shall be earned in the content area of the applicant’s primary teaching assignment at a college or university approved to offer graduate work. A maximum of 18 of the credit requirement may be satisfied through in-service programs approved by the secretary for meeting master’s equivalency requirements.” In other words, the PDE will no longer accept graduate credits submitted by an educator that are not in an educator’s certified content area. For professionals with more than one certification the credits can be in any area of certification held, not just the certification of the position currently held. Up to 18 credits of in-service (IU) courses will still be accepted. Members with questions about the new PDE policy can contact Mark Wescott in PSEA’s Educational Services Division via email at mwescott@psea.org.

Unit Meetings

Once each year the president of the LMEA holds a unit meeting in each of the schools and major departments. These meetings are an opportunity to share issues and have questions answered directly by the LMEA leadership. The schedule for the remaining 2007-08 Unit Meetings is as follows:

NEXT UP:

Penn Valley …………Nov. 13 @ 3:45

Bala Cynwyd……….Nov. 28 @ 3:15

Lower Merion ……….Dec. 12 @ 2:45

Gladwyne……………Jan. 8 @ 3:45

Transportation LM…..Jan. 17 (time to be determined)

Operations…………….Jan. 29 (time TBD)

Transportation HH…...Feb. 4 (time TBD)

Welsh Valley…………Mar. 3 @ 3:15

Penn Wynne………….Mar. 27 @ 3:45

Merion………………..Apr.24 @ 3:45

Harriton………………May 6 @ 2:45

Second LMEA Retirement Workshop To Be Held in March

The retirement workshop with Les Benzak from Lincoln Financial on November 14 filled up fast, so he has agreed to hold a another workshop on the PSERS retirement options on Thursday, March 13, at 4pm in the LMEA office. Space is limited so please RSVP at: lmeducationassoc@comcast.net

Did You Know This Is In Your Contract?

For every employee that retires under the PSERS superannuation provisions the district will provide a life insurance policy with a $5000 benefit for professional retirees and a $3000 benefit for support professional retirees. [Article 46, B.1-3.]