Lets Get Something Straight About the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund - It's the City That Is Raiding It, Not Senior Care.

I just read a letter written by the president of the local representing NYC correction officers. He was trying to defend his vote to sell out retirees health benefits. He starts out moaning about the Health Insurance Stabilzation Fund (HISF). He states that rising health care costs are diminishing the HISF.

The City and the unions have been crying over the HISF ever since this attack on retirees started. So below is the income statement chart for the fund since 2012. I've only included the main items.

The fund has only paid GHI $378M over the eleven year period.

But over the same period the HISF fund has paid:

1. the City $1.889B ($77M every year plus a $1.0B bonus in 2015).
2. the union welfare funds $996M and
3. other discretionary benefit providers $654M.

Payments to the City, the welfare funds, and the other benefit providers are controlled by the unions and the city subject to collective bargainning. You know collective bargainning, where the unions fight with the City to get what they deserve and not give things back to the City.

Income Statement History for the HISF

Fiscal Year	Opening Balance	1984 HBA City Contib Pay In	City Liability Pay In: GHI less than HIP	Other Benefit Pay Out	Welfare Fund Pay Out	2009 HBA City Refund Pay out	GHI Pay out: GHI greater than HIP	CBA City Refund Pay out	Closing Balance
2012	$587M	$35M	$465M	$48M	$38M	$112M	$0.0M	$0.0M	$894M
2013	$894M	$35M	$0.0M	$39M	$38M	$112M	$0.0M	$0.0M	$744M
2014	$744M	$35M	$1.162B	$40M	$38M	$112M	$50M	$0.0M	$1.706B
2015	$1.706B	$35M	$336M	$45M	$38M	$112M	$100M	$1.0B	$789M
2016	$789M	$35M	$1.202B	$43M	$52M	$112M	$8M	$0.0M	$1.829B
2017	$1.829B	$35M	$54M	$57M	$188M	$112M	$0.0M	$0.0M	$1.586B
2018	$1.586B	$35M	$232M	$57M	$38M	$112M	$2.0M	$0.0M	$1.643B
2019	$1.643B	$35M	$136M	$27M	$81M	$112M	$39.3M	$0.0M	$1.587B
2020	$1.587B	$35M	$0M	$83M	$171M	$112M	$3.9M	$0.0M	$1.369B
2021	$1.369B	$35M	$154M	$74M	$160M	$112M	$175.9M	$42.8M	$1.031B
2022	$1.031B	$35M	$0.0M	$136M	$100M	$112M	$0.0M	$0.0M	$900M

The MLC (DC-37 and UFT) and the City Attack on Senior Care

Along with the garbage about the HISF, this president had the gall to say that the MLC only voted to adopt the Aetna Medicare Advantage plan and not the termination of Senior Care. The City was required by a collective bargainning agreement to get the approval of the MLC before it terminated the GHI Senior Care contract. This union wants to hide the fact that it was part of the crime.

I hope every Correction Officer, who has to retire on disability and collect Social Security benefits, knows that he/she will get hammered with the Medicare Advantage crap. This is not about Aetna, all Medicare Advatage plans are inferior to Medicare with a supplemental plan.

I hope I don't have to tell anyone how to deal with statements from insurance companies. We have a massive legal industry based on this situation.

The Health Insurance Stabilization Fund and the Federal Age Discrimination Law (ADEA - 1967)

In a previous post about the Medicare Advantage Scam I highlighted a document from OLR to the former Mayor. It went into great detail about the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund, the HISF.

In 1983 the City and its labor unions agreed to set up the HISF to equalize HIP and GHI insurance rates.

In 2005 HIP and GHI merged into Emblemhealth.

The HISF Agreement

The following is part of a section from the UFA's 2008-2010 labor contarct with the City that recites the HISF agreement:

Section 3.

A. Effective July 1, 1983 and thereafter, the City's cost for each employee and each retiree under ager 65 shall be qualized at at the community rated basic HIP/HMO plan payment rate as approved by the State department of Insurance on a category basis of individual or family e.g.the Blue Cros/GHI-CBP payment for family coverage shall be equal to the HIP/HMO payment for the family coverage.

B. If a replacement plan is offereed to employees and retirees under age 65 which exceeds the cost of the HIP/HMO equalization provided in Section 3a, the City shall not bear the additional costs.

C. The City (and other related Employers) shall continue to contribute on a City employee benefits program-wide basis the additional annual amount of $30 million to maitain the health insurance stabilization reserve fund which shall be used to continue equaliztion and protect the integrity of health insurance benefits.

The health insurance stabilization reserve fund shall be used: to provide a sufficient reserve; to maintain to the extent possible the current level of health insurance benefits provide under the Blue Cross/GHI-CBP plan; and if sufficient funds are available , to fund new benefits.

The health insurance stabilization reserve fund shall be credited with the dividends or reduced by the losses attributable to the Blue Cross/GHI-CBP plan.

Pursuant to paragraph 7 of MLC Healt benefits Agreement, notwithstanding the above in each of the fiscal years 2001 and 2002, the City shall not make the annual $35 million contributions to the health insurance stabilization fund.

It appears that this agreement violates the federal age discrimination law (ADEA - 1967) by giving a benefit to a subset of a group based only on their age. Why didn't the agreement provide equaliztion for retiree age 65 and older?