You stated correctly, your information on WEA Trust is not scientific. Rather, it is slanted. I have a couple of comments. First, I am a retiree who has never been a public employee ~ I am a taxpayer in WI. My only goal is truth and clarity. For clarity, any pooled insurance information relies on participation of both the employers (school districts) with few sick people pooling their premiums with school districts with expensive sick people. If the employers with substantially healthy folks pulled out, the balance of employers would have to pay even more for insurance. School districts with sick employees would have to pay more. As I understand, WEA prevailed in a court case concerning this issue. You did not mention that. However, your small footnote clarification is appreciated. Further, you failed to mention that school employees, even under the restrictions of the QEO, subsidized the premium payment by agreeing to reduced raises. In essence, they contributed by not taking full raises. My comments do not mean that there cannot be improvement. However, misinformation and missing information that has more to do with a political power grab is unacceptable. Help us all by providing unbiased and complete information.
To Democracy 101:
“For clarity, any pooled insurance information relies on participation of both the employers (school districts) with few sick people pooling their premiums with school districts with expensive sick people.”
The WEA Trust is not the insurance provider. They are a TPA and therefor carry no risk, but only add costs on top of what the insurance provider initially charges.
“misinformation and missing information that has more to do with a political power grab is unacceptable. Help us all by providing unbiased and complete information.”
WEAC is nothing but a misinformer of the truth with the top leadership making 10 times more than you and I, while aiding the powerful elite in continuing their dominance over the innocent people of Wisconsin.
As point of clarification. WEA Trust is listed on the tier of least expensive plans for state employees and has won the award for the best insurance company in Wisconsin for three years in a row. In some instances WEA is a third party administrator ~ in most instances, it is not. Concerning your attack on WEAC, again you are fueled more by prejudice than facts. No one can have a lucid discussion with prejudice.
The report states research found school districts with the WEA Trust, paid a considerable amount more for health insurance than those who were able to break away. An award given by a rigged panel is something to note. Awards don’t mean facts can be ignored. Yes, best bennies. No, not the best value which is the root of the problem with public funding: doing less with more.
What instances can Dem101 present where the WEA Trust is not a TPA??? It appears as though documentation is not as important as opinion. Who is prejudice here? The fact remains, the only risk carried by WEA Trust is it has to administer claims meaning they have to pay employees to follow a claim through. It doesn’t mean that the WEA Trust has to pay the claim i.e. doctor bill. Who holds the true risk??? The actual insurance company not the company (WEA Trust) that does the administrative side i.e. WEAT Trust = TPA.
WEA Insurance has a full spectrum of health plans. Depending on the deductible, coinsurance, co-pays, and how comprehensive the health plan is, the premium can be lower or higher. Fact remains. WEA has a health plan included on the tier of plans with one of the lowest premiums (cost effective). Additionally, it is obvious that you will not take my word that WEA is an insurer, not simply a TPA. I suggest you call the Wisconsin Office of Commissioner of Insurance. They will tell you what I have said, but perhaps you will believe them. And finally, you alleged that the survey citing WEA as the best insurer in Wisconsin was rigged. Of course, it was not. It is just easy to make that kind of empty accusation. It was done by a national, independent polling company. If you are interested , here is the website: https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp
I hope this references will clarify the reality of the situation.
I notice that you are now “clarifying” that WEA Trust does not withhold claim history information (see above clarification). Interestingly, you include the information that if groups leave WEA Trust their premium might increase. How ironic that you have been citing how expensive the WEA premium is, yet the threat of going elsewhere for coverage is the increase in premium with a different insurer. Perhaps the huge cracks in logic and facts that you present are becoming obvious. As I have said before, you simply have a political ax to grind. Shame.
[...] forced districts to pay far more than they would if they were allowed to shop freely for coverage. Click here to see EAG’s report on the WEA Trust. But Walker’s bill takes health coverage out of collective bargaining. That means school [...]
[...] Walker has cited WEA Trust as a primary reason for reforming collective bargaining. WEA Trust has grown very fat on public school dollars, with a net worth of $316 million and a team [...]
[...] leading health insurance plan, WEA Trust, for example, is controlled by the state’s largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council. But I [...]
[...] leading health insurance plan, WEA Trust, for example, is controlled by the state’s largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council. But I [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] as insurance does.” That was the premise of an EAG report issued last year titled: “A crucial challenge for Wisconsin schools: Escaping the financial shackles of WEA Trust insurance.” The report showed that school districts were routinely pressed by the Wisconsin [...]
[...] the union has been pressuring school boards to purchase overpriced health care coverage from WEA Trust, costing individual districts hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Collective [...]
[...] the union has been pressuring school boards to purchase overpriced health care coverage from WEA Trust, costing individual districts hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Collective [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] Last year EAG issued a report titled “A Crucial Challenge for Wisconsin Schools: Escaping the Shackles of WEA Trust.” The report found that 43 of the 50 districts with the most expensive insurance premiums purchased [...]
[...] The new law, which was met with union protests unlike this generation has seen, put more power into the hands of school boards and administrators to set spending policy. That’s because spending policy was taken off the collective bargaining table, where the Wisconsin Education Association Council could manipulate the process to its own self-serving advantage. Perhaps most significantly, the new law took employee health insurance off the bargaining table, so WEAC is no longer able to pressure school boards to purchased overpriced coverage from WEA Trust, an insurance carrier established by the union. Read an exposé on that here. [...]
6 Comments
You stated correctly, your information on WEA Trust is not scientific. Rather, it is slanted. I have a couple of comments. First, I am a retiree who has never been a public employee ~ I am a taxpayer in WI. My only goal is truth and clarity. For clarity, any pooled insurance information relies on participation of both the employers (school districts) with few sick people pooling their premiums with school districts with expensive sick people. If the employers with substantially healthy folks pulled out, the balance of employers would have to pay even more for insurance. School districts with sick employees would have to pay more. As I understand, WEA prevailed in a court case concerning this issue. You did not mention that. However, your small footnote clarification is appreciated. Further, you failed to mention that school employees, even under the restrictions of the QEO, subsidized the premium payment by agreeing to reduced raises. In essence, they contributed by not taking full raises. My comments do not mean that there cannot be improvement. However, misinformation and missing information that has more to do with a political power grab is unacceptable. Help us all by providing unbiased and complete information.
To Democracy 101:
“For clarity, any pooled insurance information relies on participation of both the employers (school districts) with few sick people pooling their premiums with school districts with expensive sick people.”
The WEA Trust is not the insurance provider. They are a TPA and therefor carry no risk, but only add costs on top of what the insurance provider initially charges.
“misinformation and missing information that has more to do with a political power grab is unacceptable. Help us all by providing unbiased and complete information.”
WEAC is nothing but a misinformer of the truth with the top leadership making 10 times more than you and I, while aiding the powerful elite in continuing their dominance over the innocent people of Wisconsin.
As point of clarification. WEA Trust is listed on the tier of least expensive plans for state employees and has won the award for the best insurance company in Wisconsin for three years in a row. In some instances WEA is a third party administrator ~ in most instances, it is not. Concerning your attack on WEAC, again you are fueled more by prejudice than facts. No one can have a lucid discussion with prejudice.
The report states research found school districts with the WEA Trust, paid a considerable amount more for health insurance than those who were able to break away. An award given by a rigged panel is something to note. Awards don’t mean facts can be ignored. Yes, best bennies. No, not the best value which is the root of the problem with public funding: doing less with more.
What instances can Dem101 present where the WEA Trust is not a TPA??? It appears as though documentation is not as important as opinion. Who is prejudice here? The fact remains, the only risk carried by WEA Trust is it has to administer claims meaning they have to pay employees to follow a claim through. It doesn’t mean that the WEA Trust has to pay the claim i.e. doctor bill. Who holds the true risk??? The actual insurance company not the company (WEA Trust) that does the administrative side i.e. WEAT Trust = TPA.
WEA Insurance has a full spectrum of health plans. Depending on the deductible, coinsurance, co-pays, and how comprehensive the health plan is, the premium can be lower or higher. Fact remains. WEA has a health plan included on the tier of plans with one of the lowest premiums (cost effective). Additionally, it is obvious that you will not take my word that WEA is an insurer, not simply a TPA. I suggest you call the Wisconsin Office of Commissioner of Insurance. They will tell you what I have said, but perhaps you will believe them. And finally, you alleged that the survey citing WEA as the best insurer in Wisconsin was rigged. Of course, it was not. It is just easy to make that kind of empty accusation. It was done by a national, independent polling company. If you are interested , here is the website:
https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp
I hope this references will clarify the reality of the situation.
I notice that you are now “clarifying” that WEA Trust does not withhold claim history information (see above clarification). Interestingly, you include the information that if groups leave WEA Trust their premium might increase. How ironic that you have been citing how expensive the WEA premium is, yet the threat of going elsewhere for coverage is the increase in premium with a different insurer. Perhaps the huge cracks in logic and facts that you present are becoming obvious. As I have said before, you simply have a political ax to grind. Shame.
15 Trackbacks
[...] forced districts to pay far more than they would if they were allowed to shop freely for coverage. Click here to see EAG’s report on the WEA Trust. But Walker’s bill takes health coverage out of collective bargaining. That means school [...]
[...] Walker has cited WEA Trust as a primary reason for reforming collective bargaining. WEA Trust has grown very fat on public school dollars, with a net worth of $316 million and a team [...]
[...] leading health insurance plan, WEA Trust, for example, is controlled by the state’s largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council. But I [...]
[...] leading health insurance plan, WEA Trust, for example, is controlled by the state’s largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council. But I [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] as insurance does.” That was the premise of an EAG report issued last year titled: “A crucial challenge for Wisconsin schools: Escaping the financial shackles of WEA Trust insurance.” The report showed that school districts were routinely pressed by the Wisconsin [...]
[...] the union has been pressuring school boards to purchase overpriced health care coverage from WEA Trust, costing individual districts hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Collective [...]
[...] the union has been pressuring school boards to purchase overpriced health care coverage from WEA Trust, costing individual districts hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Collective [...]
[...] Education Association Council – WEAC – the state’s largest teachers union. EAG produced an in-depth report revealing how the teacher unions use the collective bargaining process to demand that WEA Trust be [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] months ago, Education Action Group published a scathing exposé on the Wisconsin Education Association Council-affiliated WEA Trust, a union-contrived insurance [...]
[...] Last year EAG issued a report titled “A Crucial Challenge for Wisconsin Schools: Escaping the Shackles of WEA Trust.” The report found that 43 of the 50 districts with the most expensive insurance premiums purchased [...]
[...] The new law, which was met with union protests unlike this generation has seen, put more power into the hands of school boards and administrators to set spending policy. That’s because spending policy was taken off the collective bargaining table, where the Wisconsin Education Association Council could manipulate the process to its own self-serving advantage. Perhaps most significantly, the new law took employee health insurance off the bargaining table, so WEAC is no longer able to pressure school boards to purchased overpriced coverage from WEA Trust, an insurance carrier established by the union. Read an exposé on that here. [...]