Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Duane Tron's vision of Tent City for Elderly Educators

Duane's response to Beacon Journal article below
Duane Tron to John Curry, September 26, 2006
Subject: Re: Health Insurance premiums - Good News that's really Bad News & Seventh Class Retirees

Ours is increasing at a heck of a lot faster pace than 7.7%. In 2007 I will have to expend over 50% of my retirement check to pay for my wife's health insurance, my health insurance, and our co-pays, deductibles, and prescriptions costs. I'll bet all of the top people at STRS and OUR associates are paying for health insurance at a rate of 50% of their annual salaries aren't they? When what freezes over? Say again!
Damon had his letter in the Urbana Daily Citizen today explaining the ethics violations, etc. I promptly put the paper down and went to the back door to puke. I didn't want to make a mess on the floor of our HUMBLE home. Anyone who doubts my contention is welcome to look at my tax returns and I'll show what we've paid each year since 2003. Remember my wife is a non-teaching spouse. You know the spouse I married nearly 42 years ago when we were promised quality and affordable health insurance for the rest of our lives! The health insurance is somewhat quality but hardly affordable! I guess one out of two is supposedly not too bad??!!
I'll bet all of our elected public officials are paying at least 50% of their annual income for health insurance and related costs aren't they??!! When you know what freezes over! Some of my friends who retired from GM and Delphi just threw a hissy fit this year when they were told they were going to have to pay $80.00 per month for health insurance out of their fifty thousand dollar retirement checks. I told them to try living on $34,000 per year and paying nearly $17,000.00 for health insurance, co-pays, deductibles, and prescription costs. They all shut up! They looked at me and couldn't believe what we are having to pay! They didn't believe me when I told them. I'll bet Damon is paying at least half of his annual income for the same benefits don't you suppose??!
Excuse my sarcasm and bombastic attitude in all of this! The words of that STRS counselor just keep ringing in my ears from back in 1998 in Bowling Green, Ohio.. "Mr. Tron, the Ohio State Teacher's Retirement System is second to none! WE have the finest retirement system in the world. You NEVER have to worry about health insurance and there isn't ANY need to purchase supplemental health insurance for your wife and yourself!" I still contend that as a representative of STRS they are liable for paying damages to those of us with non-teaching spouses. I still contend we can find the right attorneys to represent us and I still contend that we will beat them in court! The sad part is how many of us will still be alive when the judgment is rendered against them!
We were promised! We were LIED to! The pain has NEVER been spread evenly across the board to ALL retirees of STRS. A select group was singled out and punished for having non-teaching spouses after promises were made and broken. We continue to be victimized by outrageous increases that are destroying our ability to exist! Many have already been financially ruined and thousands more are facing the same fate!
So much for the claim that the Ohio State Teachers' Retirement System is the "finest in the world," and "second to none!" Second to none what? Really starting to feel the pain here in beautiful downtown St. Paree.
When we are evicted from our homes I think we need to go to Damon's house, at Christmas, and pitch tents in his front yard! I think we need to go to all of the former board members' homes and do the same. We should start camping in their yards! I have a plan! We start camping in their yards! This will bring national attention to the plight of Ohio's retired educators and I promise that it will place us on the front page of the national news. I'll bet the politicians will quit ignoring the problems any longer! I think we need to start camping in the front yards of many state officials as well. We can start building tent cities on their lawns and force them to have us arrested and taken away. That'll be really impressive hauling a bunch of elderly retirees away with walkers, canes, wheelchairs, and other health concerns. They will have to obtain restraining orders and we go back and put up more tents! I'll even take an enlarged photo of my modest home and the media can then compare it to the homes of the STRS and OEA fat cats! I think it's a wonderful plan! I know it will embarrass the hell out of them, cost them a lot of money, and make our case nationwide! Let's discuss this further!
Duane Tron
-------
From:: John Curry, September 26, 2006
Subject: Health Insurance premiums - Good News that's really Bad News & Seventh Class Retirees
Note from John: Of course, the article doesn't mention the fact that pre-Medicare aged OPERS retirees (with 30 years service) still pay $80 monthly this year ($0 for retiree and $80 for spouse) for an 80/20 Medical Mutual PPO) like they did last year and comparable STRS retiree coverage is now over $600 per month! They (OPERS retirees) had no rate increase this year. Of course, OPERS (years ago) planned for the future, didn't they? Some will say this is comparing apples to oranges, I say it's comparing planning for the future to not planning for the future AND 30 years public service is 30 years public service. Why should educator retirees be second class retirees while we watch retired employees of our very own STRS facility in Columbus (with 30 years service under OPERS) enjoy the $80 monthly premiums? The active teachers need to be informed of this - too many of them still don't have the slightest idea that one day they will be second class retirees also - or, should I say seventh class retirees: $80 X 7 = $560 (pretty close to $600, I'd say)?
--------
Posted on Tue, Sep. 26, 2006
Insurance premiums increasing
By Cheryl Powell
Akron Beacon Journal medical writer
Though health insurance costs aren't increasing as much as they did several years ago, the annual hikes still are far outpacing workers' annual pay raises.
The average premium for health insurance provided by an employer rose 7.7 percent this year, according to survey results released this morning by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.
The non-profit organizations team up each year to find trends in employer-sponsored health plans. Kaiser Family Foundation is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente, the insurance company.
This year's increase -- the lowest rate of premium growth since 2000 -- is less than the 9.2 percent average hike seen in 2005.
But premium costs are still increasing more than twice as fast as workers' wages, which rose an average of 3.8 percent this year, the study found.
All together, premiums have increased an average of 87 percent during the past six years.
Employees are picking up part of these increasing costs.
Workers are paying about $259 more this year than they did last year toward the cost of family health coverage, the study found.
More about the findings and how employers are responding to the rising health-insurance costs will be published in Wednesday's Akron Beacon Journal.
Larry KehresMount Union Collge
Division III
web page counter
Vermont Teddy Bear Company