Disney and their unions...again...

[jhastings74]

[font=Times New Roman,Serif]March 8, 2005[/font]

<!-- HEADLINE --><!-- ARTICLE HEADLINE -->[font=Times New Roman, serif]Coalition wants Disney to cap health care costs[/font]

[font=Times New Roman, serif]

BY DONNA BALANCIA
FLORIDA TODAY [/font]<!-- SIDEBAR --><!-- ARTICLE SIDEBAR --><!-- ARTICLE BODY TEXT --><!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->[font=Times New Roman, serif]A coalition representing about 22,000 employees at The Walt Disney Co. wants Disney to put a cap on members' share of health care costs, according to union official Mike Stapleton, president of Teamsters Local 385.

Stapleton said the Service Trades Council Union sent an open letter to Walt Disney World President Al Weiss seeking limits on how much Disney can raise workers' share of health insurance costs.

Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Polak said she is surprised by the actions of the Service Trades Council Union. The coalition of six union locals at Disney represents 22,000 Orlando-area Disney employees -- or about 42 percent of Disney's 52,000-member work force.

"They're raising concerns over health care," Polak said. "It's surprising to us. We have an agreement in place, and it's an agreement the union recommended" in November.

On Nov. 18, members of Service Trades Council Union approved a three-year contract by a vote of 3,771 to 2,769.

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[wannab@dis]

yeah, my insurance costs went up again this year. Seems like that affects everyone, not just the union members. Why should Disney agree to a cap when the non-union members don't have a cap? Doesn't seem right to me. In fact, they would then have to pass off the un-recovered union member costs to the non-union members.

 

[bhg469]

unions....

 

[aklodge]

unions....

Yep....

 

[Shaman]

Healthcare costs are something plaguing many companies today and their employees...the problem I think is with the Insurance companies themselves...prices are sky-rocketing and coverage isn't exactly getting better (or the service for that matter)...

I think the government needs to address this issue...because it seems unfair the prices people have to pay for insurance...

The union I suppose, is looking ahead...when costs are risen yet again...

There should have been a cap years ago...thats just my opinion though.

 

[wannab@dis]

I agree there should be a cap, but the cap should be at the insurance company and not based on being a union member.

 

[Master Yoda]

Right now health insurance premiums are absolutely insane. Disney wanting to put a cap on how much they spend on premiums makes sense because there is no telling how high the premiums are going to get. It also makes sense for the union to fight it for the same reason. What really needs to happen is a major overhaul of the insurance business in general but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening any time soon.

 

[Shaman]

I agree there should be a cap, but the cap should be at the insurance company and not based on being a union member.

I agree.

 

[mkt]

the only union worth anything in Orlando is the OUC (Orlando Utilities) Union... the WDW Unions are a joke... I said that as a CM, and I say it as a bystander.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

I work for a fortune 100 company and we (as most people) pay a considerable amount toward medical insurance. The only people currently working for state and federal government and some unions don't pay anything.

Clearly the system is broken, and in the short term will only get worse, but all private employers, even rich employers cannot sustain this totally on their own. Pressure cannot be put back on the companies, it has to go to our government, tort reform and the insurance industry.

 

[tigsmom]

Healthcare costs are something plaguing many companies today and their employees...the problem I think is with the Insurance companies themselves...prices are sky-rocketing and coverage isn't exactly getting better (or the service for that matter)...

I think the government needs to address this issue...because it seems unfair the prices people have to pay for insurance...

The union I suppose, is looking ahead...when costs are risen yet again...

There should have been a cap years ago...thats just my opinion though.

Have to agree whole heartedly. The price of medical care keeps rising, but the reimbursements have remained unchanged. With the advance of medicine, people are living longer thus utilizing the healthcare system more. And the price of medications is out of control. (but thats another story)
You can't blame the union for wanting to look ahead... this fight is being fought by most companies/unions in the US.

 

[waltdisny]

In the spirit of preventing a repeat of earlier firestorms on similar topics, here's some hard facts for those who care:
http://www.aahp.org/InternalLinks/PwCFinalReport.pdf

Link is a report that shows real impact of numerous factors on healthcare costs. For those who just want the bullet points:
http://www.fepblue.org/faq/faqhealthcarecosts.html

The information here is available from many other sources. Total healthcare costs will soon reach 18.7% of GDP.

 

[aklodge]

In the spirit of preventing a repeat of earlier firestorms on similar topics, here's some hard facts for those who care:
http://www.aahp.org/InternalLinks/PwCFinalReport.pdf

Link is a report that shows real impact of numerous factors on healthcare costs. For those who just want the bullet points:
http://www.fepblue.org/faq/faqhealthcarecosts.html

The information here is available from many other sources. Total healthcare costs will soon reach 18.7% of GDP.

Thanks for the facts...we needed those. :wave:

 

[Hakunamatata]

Just something to think about..........

* Empolyer subsidised health insurance is a benefite, not a right.
* Insurance companies are business, not government programs. They are in business to make money, and are not social programs.
* As long as the cost to do business rises, premiums will do the same.

 

[aklodge]

Just something to think about..........

* Empolyer subsidised health insurance is a benefite, not a right.
* Insurance companies are business, not government programs. They are in business to make money, and are not social programs.
* As long as the cost to do business rises, premiums will do the same.

Good Point, I agree about the cost of buisness and the premiums. Great Point!

 

[Cattman96]

There are also way to many senseless lawsuits with unbelievable payouts. Put a cap on certain lawsuit payouts and insurance premiums should go down. Just a thought.

 

[waltdisny]

There are also way to many senseless lawsuits with unbelievable payouts. Put a cap on certain lawsuit payouts and insurance premiums should go down. Just a thought.

So the talking heads say. But if you look at the facts, lawsuits contribute to only 7% of the rise. A much bigger factor is the rising cost of hospitals. In turn, their costs are driven up by providing for the uninsured, and so the vicious cycle continues......Sorry, I said I wouldn't say anything: ignoring this thread, ignoring....:zipit:

 

[DisneyNutZ]

I work for a fortune 100 company and we (as most people) pay a considerable amount toward medical insurance. The only people currently working for state and federal government and some unions don't pay anything.

The federal government does not pay their emplyee's medical insurance, it is shared between the employee and them, pretty much just like any other large company today. We are not getting a free ride! Our premiums go up every year.

Around Philly here, the public transit workers are all upset and voted to strike because they want them to pay towards their insurance, I said who feels bad for them, they can just join the rest of us!

 

[Thelazer]

A fellow CM came up with this idea. I think it's great.

Disney hires it's own staff of Doc's. 4 GP's, 4 Dentists’, 2 Eyes, 2 GYNO, 2 Cyro. Each one of them is paid $70,000 a year by Disney. Disney provides a building, and all supplies as well as nursing staff and office staff. Any minor medical issue that can be handled thru these people is FREE to ANY Disney employee or immediate family member. Anything that cannot be handled by the internal staff gets referred to Celebration Hospital at a 50/50 split.

They do not see anyone unless they work for the Walt Disney Company. Each Disney employee pays $10 a month towards the healthcare fund, the company pays the rest.

You agree to use these company provided docs at your own risk. You can only sue them for malpractice if you agree to a payment cap of 200k per incident.

 

[Hakunamatata]

There are also way to many senseless lawsuits with unbelievable payouts. Put a cap on certain lawsuit payouts and insurance premiums should go down. Just a thought.

Actually, claims frequency (number of claims filed) has just as big an impact as claims severity (how much paid per claim).

Health insurance was not intended to be your everyday sniffle coverage. Insurance in general was intended only to be utilized when a loss was so significant that it would cause great financial burden on the policy holder. Unfortunately, we have gotten to the point where we go to the doctor or emergency room everytime we (society in general) get a runny nose. This causes a significant ballooning in administrative costs.

In addition, we are taking poorer and poorer care of ourselves in general, causing higher instances of disease (heart, diabities, etc) that is behavior oriented and not genetic oriented. This in conjunction with increasing life spans causes a drain on the system.