In solidarity with American Patients United's 2ndhttp://www.healthcare-now.org/
Mon. Sept. 22, 1-4 p.m. – “Health Action: Medication
Madness – The Dangerous and Violent Effects of
Psychiatric Drugs”; special program featuring Peter
Breggan, MD (author, Medication Madness); on
WBAI/Pacifica (99.5 FM or www.wbai.org); program
available online for live streaming or downloads for
90 days; more info at 212-925-1829.
Mon. Sept. 22, 3:15 p.m. – “March for Health Care and
Economic Justice”; a march to remember those who died
for lack of health care; gather outside Mt. Olivet
Baptist Church, 201 Lenox Ave (at 120th St.) in Harlem
and march to the Adam Clayton Powell State Office
Bldg. at 163 W. 125th St. for a rally; more info at
healthcarenow08@gmail.com or 212-475-8350.
Fri. Sept. 26, 10 a.m. – Monthly meeting of the NY
Network for Action on Medicare and Social Security;
agenda includes discussions of the new Medicare reform
bill, and the role of insurance industry money in NY
politics, among other items TBA; at JASA/Cooper
Square’s Green Residence, 200 E. 5th St. (at 3rd
Ave./Bowery) in Manhattan; more info at 212-925-1829.
Fri. Sept. 26, 4:30 p.m. – Speak-Out Against Budget
Cuts! Demand Healthcare for All! Say No to the
Privatization of GHI & HIP! sponsored by the Coalition
Against Privatization; outside Gov. Paterson’s NYC
office, 633 3rd Ave. (at 41st St.) in Manhattan; more
info at noprivatization@yahoo.com or call (508)
524-2118.
http://saveourhealthcare.blogspot.com/
Privatization Isn't HIP:
Join the Fight to Save Affordable Healthcare
for New Yorkers!
Thursday, September 18
7:30-9:00pm
Food provided
6th Street Community Center
638 E 6th St (between Aves. B and C)
Manhattan
Subway: F/V to 2nd Ave/Lower East Side; L to
1st Ave; 4/6 to Bleecker St.
Speakers:
-Clarice Torrence, President, New York Metro
Area Local of the American Postal Workers Union
-Billy Wharton, Coalition Against Privatization
-Tom Duane, State Senator, District 29 (invited)
Sponsors:
NYC Democratic Socialists of America, NYC
Young Democratic Socialists, Coalition Against
Privatization, Progressive Democrats of America -
CD14,and Democracy for NYC
The New York State Insurance Department is considering
a plan to convert the not-for-profit health plan,
GHI/HIP, into a for-profit company. Mayor Bloomberg called on
State
Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo to stop the
conversation (privatization), call it "bad policy".
The Mayor's
Office filed a memorandum in opposition to the
conversion
of GHI/HIP, which currently provide health-care
coverage for
93 percent of city employees, as well as many
low-income
New Yorkers.
"GHI and HIP have each provided quality health
insurance
benefits to New Yorkers for more than 60 years," Mayor
Bloomberg said in a recent statement. "The conversion
to a single for-profit entity could increase
health-care costs
by hundreds of millions of dollars, and threatens the
health
and financial well-being of city workers and retirees.
We
don't need city dollars intended to protect
hard-working city
employees and retirees used instead to pad the
compensation of health-care executives. This
conversion
should be rejected."
In a letter to Superintendent Dinallo, State Senator
Tom
Duane has pointed out that "all other states
considering
such conversions within the past five years – Kansas,
Washington, North Carolina, and Maryland – have
rejected
these plans. As with all other for-profit
corporations, the f
oundational legal obligation of [the new company] will
be to
maximize profits for its shareholders. The pursuit of
profit
will therefore be the company's premiere priority,
surpassing
the provision of quality health care services to its
members
as the company's primary goal. This will inevitably
lead to
higher prices for health care consumers and the
cutting of
corners with respect to the quality of health care
services.
If EmblemHealth raises its rates, its competitors are
likely
to do so as well, and all New Yorkers will suffer."
At recent events outside the Superintendent's office,
protesters
have highlighted the negative aspects of the
unregulated
private health insurance system in the United States.
Payments for medical care now eat up the highest
percentage
of household disposable income and premiums have
increased
by 80% from 2001-2006. The privatization of GHI & HIP
will fully
expose 4 million people in NY State to the worst
effects of this
system.
To learn more about the event, please contact Maria
at marisvart@gmail.com.
*******************************************************
To All Members of the NY State Psychological Association,
COALITION AGAINST PRIVATIZATION (CAP)
Friends,
On Friday May 30th, the Coalition Against Privatization held its second street demonstration against the proposed conversion (privatization) of GHI/HIP to for-profit status. As you may have heard, this privatization would remove an important non-profit healthcare carrier thereby exposing 4 million people in NY State to a for-profit health insurer. Non-profit status places a cap on administrative spending at 15% of the overall budget, provides oversight on premium increases and restricts access to funding from financial markets (thereby insuring that the overall goal of the company is the provision of healthcare and not the accumulation of profits).
The application for conversion sailed through
In January 2008, 300 people, many retirees on fixed incomes, testified at a hearing held by the Superintendent of Insurance. The vast majority spoke against the proposed conversion with many demanding single-payer national health insurance. Since then, CAP has been formed and has organized street demonstrations on May 9th and May 30th. In addition, CAP supporters flooded the phone lines of the Superintendent of the Insurance on May 12th in a planned call-in action.
Friday's demonstration targeted the office of GHI in midtown. Protestors then moved to the office of Governor David Paterson. Along the way, the march received support from passers-by in the form of conversations, pumped fists and words of encouragement. The employees at GHI, who face possible termination or transfer if the conversion is approved, were also receptive to our message. Chants included: "Eric Dinallo–Just Say No!" / "David Paterson–Tell Him No!" and "People over Profits–Healthcare is a Right!"
Speakers included representatives from the UFT rank and file caucus, Independent Community of Educators, TWU Local 100 rank-and-file activists, UFT retirees, D.C. 37 retirees, Socialist Party USA, Healthcare – NOW and Socialist Action. The speakers highlighted the need to break through the silence on this issue by taking the word directly to rank-and-file workers who have largely been kept in the dark by political and trade union representatives. It was also noted that one unelected administrator, Superintendent Eric Dinallo, now controls the fate of 4 million people. Finally, many speakers combined their opposition to the privatization with renewed calls for building the movement for single-payer national health insurance.
Coverage of the march will air on a WBAI (99.5 FM) program entitled, "Building Bridges," this Monday evening, June 2nd, at 7:00pm. There will also be a second article by Ari Paul in this Tuesday's edition of The Chief.
The march began with a surprise announcement that Randi Weingarten, the head of the Municipal Labor Council and the President of the UFT, had penned a letter to Superintendent Dinallo expressing concern about possible increases in premium rates and denial of access to care should the conversion be approved. She stated that the municipal unions were in the process of reviewing their support of the proposed conversion. This is an important victory for CAP since we have consistently argued that premium rates and access would be jeopardized by a for-profit carrier. Activists in ICE have also attempted to bring this message to the floor of the UFT Delegate Assembly for the past three months and have had many positive conversations with DA representatives.
Going forward, CAP is participating in the June 19th national demonstrations in support of single-payer national healthcare. Demonstrations will be organized in 17 cities throughout the
Please consider participating in our growing movement to stop the privatization of GHI/HIP and secure healthcare as a basic human right!
A CAP organizer can be contacted at (718) 869-2279 or by email at noprivatization@yahoo.com
In Peace and Solidarity,
The Coalition Against Privatization
I have been a client of HIP and QLIMG for the last 18 years. I still think that HIP and GHI merger will be detrimental to the health and purse of all insured with the companies. The whole gimmick has been concocted by Mr. Anthony Watkins and his counterpart in GHI. Watkins will lower himself to any level to satisfy his personal greed.
For the sake of the NY residents please do not allow the merger!!
I received notice of your demonstration on Friday, 5/9, through the HealthCare-Now list. Although I could not have gone even without the rain, I did want to follow up as I'm interested in the issue. I worked for the City in the late 1960's, and have been a HIP member since about that time, mostly on an individual basis as I was self-employed. I believed in its principles and its model as a health provider.
Now that I am retired and on Medicare, I continued my HIP coverage, but am very upset about its plan to become a 'private' provider. In the last few years, HIP has acquired more corporate-type and mainstream medical practices, such as requiring members to travel to various locations to receive what had been routine procedures. In doing so, it has lost some of my loyalty.
Going 'private' can only mean more of the same--skimpier and dispersed services, higher charges, overloaded medical staff, etc.
So, can you please let me know what your plans are to fight this move? Thanks for any information on future actions,
MAY 12, 2008
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
I AM AGAINST THE PRIVATIZATION OF GHI OR HIP
AS A RETIREE OF THE QPLB IT WILL ONLY HURT NOT HELP
Superintendent Dinallo,
I write to you today to request that you deny the application for conversion to for-profit status filed by GHI & HIP. For more than sixty years, these companies have provided New Yorkers with low-cost quality health care. GHI & HIP's non-profit status has shielded more than 4 million residents from the worst effects of the national health care crisis. Removing this safeguard could trigger an even greater health care crisis in NY State.
I participated in the January 29th hearing you organized at the HIP office in Downtown Manhattan. The criteria your department set out for justifying the conversion - namely that GHI & HIP prove that it is made in the public interest - seems sound. Clearly, they fell far short of this goal and near the end of the hearing, Anthony Watson the CEO of HIP was evasive and, at times, downright hostile to your assistant Kermit Brooks. Further, it is my understanding that no independent impact analysis has been conducted. Finally, I learned that Mr. Watson, after testifying on January 29th that HIP was cash-strapped, has just boosted his annual salary by some $2 million dollars.
Clearly there are sound reasons why similar applications have been rejected in several other states since 2001. Slowly but surely, Americans are coming to grips with the real human costs of for-profit health care. My hope is that sooner rather than later this will lead to a single-payer national health care plan. Until then, it is the duty of citizens and elected officials to protect whatever is left of the non-profit health care sector. To do otherwise would be to recklessly endanger the lives of 4 million New Yorkers.
I hope that you are able to find the courage to defend the long-term interests of the people of this fine state and not succumb to the temptation offered by the short-term influx of cash which conversion would provide. Think of how you will be viewed when the history of for-profit health care is written. You can either be the person who assisted in the elimination of 60 years of health care safeguards or the one who said no to private profits and yes to the formation of a human-centered health care system. Thank you for your time.
NO more privatization of health care.
Dear Superintendent Dinallo'
I am writing to express my opposition to the conversion plan for GHI & HIP. I feel it is important that this application for conversion be rejects and that you develop a plan for reforming GHI & HIP while keeping the companies non-profit.
Conversion would remove the non-profit safeguards such as a cap of 15% of the budget that can be spent on administration and oversight of premium increases. Also I am concerned about tiering of policy holders which would limit access to care.
We need to pass a single payer insurance bill such as HR 676 which would end the GHI & HIP debate.
Dear NY State Insurance Dept. of Public Affairs,
I am writing to urge you to deny the privitization plan for GHI and HIP. If these insurance companies are allowed to go private, there will be a new profit incentive for them to begin denying coverage for medical treatments even more often than they currently do. An independent impact analysis of this plan is urgently needed, and I believe it would show that this plan would prove harmful both for the city and for its citizens. Please say no to this plan.
I ask you not to go forward with the privatization plan of GHI & HIP. As a health professional and former nurse faculty member of CUNY I have received services from both health plans. I also have witnessed the hardship and suffering of patients whose claims were denied by private insurance companies.Clearly at a time when we are learning about the abuses and indefensible profits of private insurance this is the wrong way to go.
I see what the privatizating provisions of Medicare ( Medical Advantage, Part D Prescription) are doing. My premiums go up as the private insurance industry and drug companies enjoy record profits and special treatment. Don't do this to GHI and HIP.
Why is this "conversion" being considered? Who would benefit beside the private insurance industry? Why now at a time of recession? It is wrong and makes no sense. Don't do it. Don't do it.
Eric Dinallo
NY State Superintendent of Insurance
Mr, Dinallo,
I oppose the "conversion plan" for GHI/HIP and ask you to stop this from happening.
The merger of GHI & HIP would mean that 93% of city workers would be in one plan and that a 1% increase in premiums would cost the city $27.5 million; Such an increase would lead to highly contentious bargaining with TWU, UFT and D.C. 37 as City Hall attempts to increase health care concessions.
There are many concerned residents who feel the same.
Honorable
One Commerce Plaza
Dear Supertindent Dinallo,
Please do not allow the GHI/HIP Conversion Plan to happen!
How would a conversion from non-profit to for profit benefit the people of
York
decades to recover from, such a conversion would be devastating. As a direct
pay member whose current monthly premium is higher than our rent, our family
would not be able to afford health insurance at all. I was diagnosed with cancer
last year and need to be able to continue have health insurance.
If this conversion is allowed to occur, the "longstanding primary mission to
serve the health coverage needs of New Yorkers" will be replaced by the primary
need to increase shareholder value.
GHI and HIP were created to provide access to health care for working class
Americans. Well, we working class Americans are still here and we still need
accessible affordable health care!
Thank you for your consideration.
I am writing to express my frustration over the GHI/HIP conversion.
93% of NYC employees in one privately operated insurance plan is UNSUSTAINABLE! Of course they will raise premiums sooner or later (probably sooner!). And there are no plans for rate hearings! Furthermore, no safeguards will keep this slippery slope from eventual landslide. Private Health Insurance Must Go!
The FOR-PROFIT insurance industry is a huge problem in the provision of healthcare in this country. Worst offense: profiting by denying care!!! It happens all the time. There is no reason to expect GHI/HIP to behave differently if they become privatized.
I earnestly request that Superintendent Dinallo reject the conversion proposal for GHI/HIP.
INSURANCE CONVERSION PROPOSALS REJECTED OR WITHDRAWN IN
In four other states, applications for nonprofit insurance conversions have been rejected or withdrawn since 2001. In each state, the conversion proposal received detailed scrutiny from insurance regulators, including the hiring of independent outside experts to determine the impact on the insurance market and access to health care.
In May 2001, BCBS of Kansas (BCBSK) and Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc., an Indiana-based mutual insurance company that was in the process of converting to for-profit, jointly announced their intent to affiliate. In this transaction, described as a "sponsored demutualization," Anthem planned to provide $370 million to BCBSK, of which $190 million was to cover BCBSK's outstanding expenses and $180 million would have been paid to eligible policyholders. BCBSK would then become a wholly-owned subsidiary of for-profit Anthem.
During the review process the Insurance Commissioner served as an impartial adjudicator, and a testimonial team, comprised of Insurance Department staff and outside counsel, was created to review the terms of the deal on behalf of the people of
Concerned about the impact on health services and access, the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, the Kansas State Nurses Association, the Kansas Medical Society and the Kansas Hospital Association petitioned for and were granted intervenor status in the proceedings. Over 1,200 Kansans attended the meetings to question various aspects of the deal, including whether the conversion would benefit them and to criticize the lack of objective information available on the deal.
The testimonial team and intervenors called on independent financial and economic experts to help analyze the benefits and detriments of the deal. Chief among the detriments was an analysis of the Kansas insurance environment by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which found that imposing a shareholder profit requirement on Kansas's largest insurer would likely result in additional premium increases in the small and individual group markets of $248 million over five years. In the final hours before the public record was closed, Anthem added to the terms of the deal a $25 million rate stabilization fund that the state could use to subsidize premiums for small group policies payable to Anthem.
In January 2002, the testimonial team joined the four intervenors in formally opposing the transaction. Citing the additional premium increases, the testimonial team's report recommended rejecting the conversion proposal and took particular exception to Anthem's last minute offer of $25 million calling it, "an insult to the intelligence of [Kansans] and the Commissioner."
In February 2002, the Insurance Commissioner formally rejected the proposed conversion and became the first industry regulator in the nation to reject a for-profit health insurer's proposal to buy a state's Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan. The proposal was found to be, "unreasonable to policyholders and not in the public interest, and hazardous and prejudicial to the insurance-buying public." BCBSK announced that it would appeal the Commissioner's final order and formally began the appeals process.
In June 2002, the Shawnee County District Court issued a Memorandum Order and Decision vacating the Order and remanding the case back to the Commissioner for further proceedings consistent with the ruling.
Undeterred, the Commissioner issued a written statement in which she promised "to protect the families and businesses of
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Premera Blue Cross: In May 2002, Premera Blue Cross of
In February 2003, the Washington Insurance Commissioner allowed over two dozen individuals and organizations asserting a "significant interest" to intervene in the conversion. Several of the intervenors opposed the conversion of Premera and raised questions about whether the full value of the company would be preserved for the public in the event of a conversion.
In granting the motions to intervene, the Insurance Commissioner grouped the intervenors into five categories and required each to appoint a lead attorney. Each group was treated as a single party for purposes of discovery, presentation of evidence, oral and written argument, and cross-examination. The groups included:
In July 2004, the Washington Insurance Commissioner formally rejected the conversion proposal. Ten days later, the Alaska Director of Insurance echoed the
In 1997, BCBS of Maryland (BCBSMD) announced that it would merge with Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc. (GHMSI) of the
In April 1998, the Governor of Maryland signed conversion legislation giving the Commissioner of Insurance the authority to require a set-aside of all "public or charitable" assets possessed by health service plans such as BCBSMD. The legislation established a conversion foundation, the Maryland Health Care Foundation, to protect the charitable assets.
In March 2000, CareFirst affiliated with nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Delaware.
Anticipating a conversion, the Maryland Legislature amended the state's conversion law in April 2001. This amendment required that the conversion assets be preserved in a trust within the existing foundation to be expended only at the direction of the state legislature.
In January 2002, CareFirst filed an application with the Insurance Commissioners of Delaware,
In 2002, the
The Insurance Commissioner contracted with four experts to assist him in his review of the application. The valuation experts returned their report on the value of CareFirst and advised the Commissioner that CareFirst was worth much more than the $1.3 billion purchase price. The Commissioner also contracted with experts to study the due diligence aspect of the transaction, foundation issues, the health impact of the conversion and the compensation packages of the executives of CareFirst. In addition to hiring experts, the Insurance Commissioner conducted five public meetings throughout the state and multiple hearings with testimony from CareFirst, Wellpoint, the Commissioner's experts and the public throughout 2002 and early 2003.
There was significant public outcry regarding the compensation arrangements for executives of CareFirst that would have resulted from the conversion. In the compensation provisions, $27.4 million would have been provided to CareFirst executives as incentive bonuses to stay .. the conversion and $47.8 million would have been provided to them in change of control payments.
After holding hearings, analyzing the documents, and listening to the concerns expressed by the community, the Insurance Commissioner rejected the application because it was not in the public interest. In his 300-page decision released on March 5, 2003, the Commissioner explained that the Board of CareFirst had failed to uphold its fiduciary duty, the company had abandoned its nonprofit mission, the Board had failed to obtain an appropriate purchase price for the plan, and the Board and management had not considered the impact on the community in deciding to sell the plan.
In April 2003, the
The CareFirst companies cover more than 3.3 million members in the
In 1998,
In 2002, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) filed with the Insurance Commissioner a proposal to convert to a for-profit corporation. The company proposed that it maintain a virtual stranglehold over the new foundation.
A sophisticated and politically savvy group of consumer advocates, led by the North Carolina Health Access Coalition (NCHAC), urged state regulators to carefully scrutinize the proposal. Active consumer participation was well matched by responsible public officials who became concerned about BCBSNC and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's insistence that the company retain ultimate control of the stock that would have gone to the foundation. Under intense scrutiny, the company's efforts to argue that the conversion was good for consumers fell flat. Instead of suffering a rejection of their proposal by regulators, BCBSNC withdrew its proposal in July 2003.
From: Consumers Union, "Blue Cross and Blue Shield: A Historical Compilation, January 2008, available at: www.consumersunion.org/conv/
Resolution on Opposing the Privatization of GHI/HIP
Independent Community of Educators
March 5, 2008 Delegate Assembly
Whereas, in 2005 the healthcare providers GHI and HIP filed for permission from NY State to merge thereby creating a new company named Emblem Heath; and
Whereas, on December 17, 2007 the currently not-for-profit healthcare providers GHI and HIP filed for permission to convert themselves into a new for-profit company called Emblem Health; and
Whereas, the merger of these two companies will result in the creation of a company with a monopoly status over the healthcare plans of municipal workers in New York city with nearly 93% of the work force insured by Emblem Health; and
Whereas, such a situation means that a 1% percent increase in premiums will result in a $27.5 million charge against the budget of
Whereas,
Whereas, conversion to for-profit status will remove safeguards in place since the 1940s which have served to shield New Yorkers from the worst effects of the national health care crisis; and
Whereas, Non-profit status prevents GHI and HIP from spending more than 15% of its budget on administration thereby placing limits on salaries for executive officers; and
Whereas, Non-profit status places limits on GHI and HIP's ability to increase premiums; and
Whereas, Non-profit status prevents GHI and HIP from receiving private financing thereby insuring that the provision of health care is prioritized over the accumulations of profit; and
Whereas, the conversion to for-profit status means that executives at Emblem Health are legally mandated to enhance profit margins; and
Whereas, the private financing of Emblem Health may make it a target for a takeover attempt by an out of state provider thereby exposing its policy holders to the unpredictability of corporate health care; and
Whereas, the premiums of private health care firms have, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had cumulative increase of 80% in the last 7 seven years; and
Whereas, the privatization of healthcare has resulted in a system which excludes more than 46 millions from coverage; and
Whereas, major healthcare rights organizations such as Healthcare NOW!, Physicians for a National Healthcare Program, Metro NY Healthcare for All, New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage, Latinos for National Healthcare, and the Consumers Union have spoken against both the merger and conversion of GHI and HIP; and
Whereas, dozens of retirees from the UFT, the TWU and D.C. 37 spoke against the merger and conversion at a public hearing held by the State Superintendent of Insurance on Jan. 29, 2008; and
Whereas, the UFT has maintained a consistent commitment to provide its members with the highest quality healthcare available; therefore be it
Resolved, that the UFT will organize a member write-in campaign to NY State Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo asking him to reject the proposed conversion of GHI/HIP to for-profit status; and be it further
Resolved, that the UFT will convene a meeting of active union members, retirees, healthcare groups and community organizations to prepare an educational and activist strategy to oppose the privatization of GHI and HIP; and be it further
Resolved, that UFT conduct public hearings in order to solicit ideas for reforming GHI and HIP while preserving their not-for-profit status.
ICE (Independent Community of Educators)
For more information regarding this resolution and other important issues facing NYC school workers, please contact us at:
ICE
(917) 992-3734
Suggested Talking Points for New York Insurance Department Hearings
by Chuck Bell, Programs Director
Preface
The transformation of a nonprofit health insurer into a for-profit, stockholder corporation is not just a technical corporate change. It is a community decision about how we want to arrange and pay for health care in a democratic society. New Yorkers have contributed over many years to the value of HIP and GHI by buying health insurance from these companies, directing employer, union and municipal labor contracts to them, and granting them exemption from various state and federal taxes.
Any change in HIP and GHI's organizational status deserves very careful attention and public oversight, with ample opportunities for citizen participation.
Below are some suggested talking points. Choose points that resonate with you and that you would feel comfortable making. You do not have to address all points. Feel free to put these ideas in your own words, and to relate them to your interest in affordable, accessible health care for the population(s) your organization serves.
Suggested Talking Points for Testimony
-- Briefly identify any personal or organizational connection to: HIP of Greater New York and/or GHI, Vytra Health Plan and/or ConnectiCare (now owned by HIP). If you are insured by HIP and GHI, make sure to say so.
Insurance Access and Affordability Issues
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