District 15 Concerned Parents
 Kids Must Count!

Expired Contract Information

Health Care Benefits under the Expired Contract
(Please see Article XVIII Medical and Dental Benefit Plan of the expired 2006 contract)

1.  District 15offers a PPO or an HMO as well as Rx, Dental and Vision coverage.

2.  All Full-time, Part-time and job share teachers are eligible.

3.  District 15 pays the entire cost of the employee premium for medical, Rx, dental and vision coverage.

4.  District 15 pays 50% of the cost of dependent care coverage.

5.  District 15 spends more than 13M each year for medical, Rx and dental coverage.

6.  PPO participants have 100% coverage and $0 Co-pay for doctor visits, x-ray lab, preventative care, and outpatient surgery.  Inpatient hospital is covered at 90%.

7.  PPO Rx cost $15(generic) & $25(brand name) which is reasonable.  However, the co-pay is for a 90 day retail or 180 day mail-order supply.  Changing the number of days alone to what most of us have (i.e. 30/90) could result in savings of as much as $1M per year.

8.  HMO participants pay nothing for physician office visits, well-care, outpatient surgery, hospital care, lab or x-ray.  Don’t most of us have a co-pay?

9.   HMO prescriptions cost just $3 (generic), $8 (formulary) or $23 (brand name) for a 30 day (retail) or 90 day (mail order) supply.  Don’t most of us have co-pays of $10-$30 for a 30 day supply and even higher for a 90 day supply?

                                                 The Bottom Line

 Benefits, premium contributions, Rx and other co-pays are out of sync with the real world.  Health care costs have increased at a double digit rate for the past several years and most of us have had these increases passed on from our employers to us.  Increases in premium deductions have shrunk our paychecks and we are paying more and more out of our pockets because our benefits have been reduced and our co-pays or coinsurance have increased.  The CTCs benefits and the associated costs have remained virtually unchanged.

Retirement Benefits
Teachers do not pay into Social Security. They pay into the Teacher Retirement Fund which is where their pension comes from. 

Background Information
 Prior to last year (2006), Union employees were able to take advantage of a 20 20 20 VSOP (Voluntary Separation Option Plan) retirement benefit. 

 Data:

 Use Salary Schedule 2004/05 Appendix A-4 and 2005/06 Appendix A-5

 Assume:  Teacher starts the 04/05 school year with 23 years of experience, step 19 and BA+24 Lane.  Salary for the year is $ 74,967.

 At the start of the 05/06 year, teacher moves to 24 years of experience, step 20 and stays in the BA+24 Lane.  Salary for this year is now $81,248.  This reflects an approximate 8.378% increase or an increase of $6,281.

 Teacher notifies district that they are now on the VSOP.  The following occurs

 Year                Salary             Increase                      Salary
1                      81,248                                                 $ 81,248.00
2                                              20%                             $ 97,497.60
3                                              20%                             $116,997.12
4                                              20%                             $140,396.54
 

Now the teacher is retired.  The state adds the last 4 salary years together and pays the teacher the average for the rest of their life. 

Total salary amount   $436,139.26    Divide this number by 4.  Multiply by 75% (this percentage will vary based on years of experience) and retirement benefit is $81,776/yr

Current Information
The Governor has changed this law and now the state will only allow a 6% increase per year for retiring teachers.  Therefore, the following schedule (for the same employee) would apply:

 Year                Salary             Increase                      Salary
1                      $81,248                                               $ 81,248.00
2                                              6%                               $ 86,122.88
3                                              6%                               $ 91,290.25
4                                              6%                               $ 96,767.67
 

The state adds the last 4 salary years together and develops the 4 year average.

Total salary amount:    $355,428.80   Divide by 4 Multiply by 75% and retirement benefit is $66,643/yr

District Proposal
The District will allow the teacher to give advance notice of intent to retire and receive up to 3 years of 6% increases in salary.

Assuming the same teacher as used in previous example, this is their pay schedule:

Year                Salary             Increase                      Salary
1                      $81,248                                               $ 81,248.00
2                                              6%                               $ 86,122.88
3                                              6%                               $ 91,290.25
4                                              6%                               $ 96,767.67
 

The state adds the last 4 salary years together and develops the 4 year average.

Total salary amount:    $355,428.80   Divide this number by 4. Multiply by 75% (this percentage will vary based on years of experience) and retirement benefit is $66,643/yr

Note:  This is the same as the Current Information schedule.

CTC Proposal
The District will allow a teacher to give advance notice of intent to retire and receive up to 4 years of 6% increases in salary.

Assuming the same teacher as in the previous example, this is their pay schedule:

Year                Salary             Increase                      Salary
1                      $81,248                                               $ 81,248.00
2                                              6%                               $ 86,122.88
3                                              6%                               $ 91,290.25
4                                              6%                               $ 96,767.67
5                                              6%                               $102,573.73

The state will get its 4 year average from years 2-5.

Total salary amount:  $368,844.06  Divide this number by 4. Multiply by 75% (this percentage will vary based on years of experience) and retirement benefit is $69,158/yr.

 District Proposal
 District offered to provide $250 per month for retiree and additional $250 per month for spouse toward cost of non-district health insurance for 3 years.

 Over three years, this totals $9,000 benefit for retiree and an additional $9000 benefit for spouse.

 CTC Proposal
 CTC proposes that the retiree continue on District health insurance for 5 years with district paying 50% of cost.  Allow retiree spouses to join at full single rate instead of family rate.  Allow additional dependents at family rate.

 Conclusion
The proposal above is vague and incomplete so it is difficult to compile information.  Per the CTC proposal, how much is District health insurance?  Who pays for the retiree spouses and dependents? District or CTC?

 Consider your own circumstances – what do you pay for insurance, what does your employer pay?   Assume that single insurance via a HMO or PPO  runs $300 to $400 and family insurance runs from $850 to $950.