January 23, 2008
 
Dear AFSCME Council 93 Member,
 
 
 
As you are aware, Governor Patrick is proposing an increase in state/higher education employee health insurance costs in his FY09 budget.
 
 
 
Please be advised that AFSCME Council 93 remains strongly opposed to any increase in employee health insurance costs and will be working aggressively with other public employee unions to defeat this proposal in the legislature.  The following is a brief summary of the governor’s plan. 
 
 
 
Under the governor’s proposal, (officially released at noon today) employees earning an annual salary of $35,000 or less would see no increase in their share of premium costs.  However, those earning above $35,000 per year would see their percentage of premium costs increased as follows:
 
 
 

• Workers earning $35,000 to $50,000 would have their premium share increased from 15% to 20%.
   

• Workers earning $50,000 or above would have their premium share increased from 15% to 25%.
   

 
 
The governor’s plan eliminates the system of having all employees hired after June 30, 2003 paying 20% of premiums and applies his new tiered system to all state employees regardless of their date of hire. 
 
 
 
The governor announced his intention to raise state employee health insurance costs
 
during the weekend of January 12 via a press release and through direct e-mails to state
 
employees. That same weekend, a statement from Council 93 was included in a Boston
 
Globe article, which indicated that “we will continue to be very aggressive when it comes
 
to ensuring that our members have access to affordable, quality heath care.”  We were the
 
only union included in the Globe article. 
 
 
 
At the start of the following week, a meeting of public sector unions was convened at the
 
Council’s Boston headquarters to formulate a joint plan of action to defeat the proposal.
 
The group has since met a second time and will continue to meet as the FY09 budget
 
process unfolds in the House and Senate over the next several months. 
 
 
 
Your Role
 
A key component of our strategy is generating phone calls, e-mails and letters from
 
AFSCME and other public employee union members.  We are urging all members to
 
contact their respective state representatives and senators to voice their opposition to the
 
governor’s plan and to specifically ask these elected officials to voice their opposition to
 
the House Speaker, Senate President and chairs of the House and Senate Ways and
 
Means Committees.
 
 
 
 
 
You can find all the appropriate contact information for these representatives and
 
senators by clicking on the following link: http://www.mass.gov/legis/citytown.htm
 
 
 
Members should begin by calling members of the House as that branch will be the first to
 
act on the governor’s proposed budget. 
 
 
 
The following are some key points that should be incorporated into your comments and
 
e-mails/letters:
 
 
 

• State employee health insurance costs have increased steadily over the past several years.  While the percentage of our premium contributions has remained relatively steady at 15% to 20%, our costs have increased just have state costs have increased.  Therefore, just because our premium split does not increase doesn’t mean that we have not been impacted by rising health care costs.  
   

• In addition, our co-payments for office visits and prescription drugs have risen dramatically and in many instances, are higher than those receiving coverage through private sector jobs. 
   

• While the percentage increases proposed by the governor range from 5% to 10%, these increases translate into out-of-pocket increases of 33% - 67% depending on the level of the percentage increase.   
   

• Increasing health care costs for a person based on their annual income is a fundamentally unfair approach. For instance, a single parent who receives an increase is more drastically affected than a worker receiving the same increase and earning the same salary in a two-income family. Other factors, such as varying costs of housing in different parts of the state, also make this approach unfair.         
   

 
 
The following are some additional suggestions:
 
 
 

• When you speak to a legislator, ask them to state their position on this issue.  If they are undecided, ask them to let you know when they have made a decision. Or, let them know you will be contacting them again in the near future to see if they have made a decision.
   

• Ask your family members, friends and neighbors to support you by contacting their legislators as well. 
   

• Speak from the heart.  Don’t just read the key points listed above.  Instead, read them in advance and incorporate your own thoughts and words.  In short, let them know how this increase would affect you personally.
   

• If you win their support, be sure to thank them and let them know you will remember it in the future. 
   

• Don’t be afraid to make more than one type of contact.  For example, a phone call followed up by e-mail(s) or vice versa is very effective.
   

• Finally, while the governor’s proposal is already part of his budget, don’t be afraid to call his office to express your disappointment.  It’s fair to let him know that your union supported his candidacy over that of his Republican opponent in part because we were tired of fighting attempts by preceding Republican Administrations to place the burden of rising health care costs on the backs of working men and women and their families.  This could impact how much the governor pushes for his plan with house and senate leadership as the budget process unfolds and/or may prevent him from making similar proposals in the future.   The phone number to the Governor’s office is 617-725-4005.  You can send and e-mail to the governor by clicking on the following link: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us
   

 
 
Your participation is this campaign is vital to our efforts to defeat this proposal.    Please do your part and rest assured that your Council will be doing everything we can on our end to maintain the current premium structure.  If you have any questions or require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact us.  Thank you in advance for your efforts.
 
 
 
In Solidarity,
 
 
 
 
 
Peter Wright                                                                             Jim Durkin
 
Director of Legislation,                                                       Legislative Agent
 
Political Action
 
and Communication