Jim Kimmel to ORTA: Lead, follow or......

From Jim Kimmel, April 22, 2007

Subject: An Open Letter to ORTA

Dear ORTA:

I just received another letter under your logo offering me some kind of insurance. This time it was "Long Term Care" from a company I had never heard of. I have also received offers for life insurance, optical and dental insurance (which my dentist said was not worth much) and several other things I do not want.

However, apart from the nuisance of receiving these "wonderful" benefit offers for retired teachers I do wonder how much ORTA makes for allowing the use of the logo. It implies that somehow ORTA has vetted these companies and that they are reliable and even specially set up for retired teachers and their families. It seems to me that this is about all ORTA is doing these days. And ORTA probably is paid for the use of member names as well!

My first question to you is: Are you being paid for the use of member names? If so how much and what is the money used for? What about payment for the ORTA logo, implying your approval?

My second question is: When are you going to DO SOMETHING besides sell insurance ? Like support Dr. Leone's ideas before the STRS Board? When was the last time an ORTA leader actually spoke at STRS meetings as a representative of ORTA ? To quote a former ORTA leader (said to me personally) "there are some things you can't do anything about." Not if all you do is try to sell insurance! Of course ORTA did find time to deny publication of Dr. Leone's article in your newsletter with bogus technicality never previously used or mentioned to Dr. Leone prior to submission. In fact, Dr. Leone had been in a meeting with many of the ORTA people the day before and no mention was made of this new policy -- you certainly had time to tell him then.

How utterly disappointing.

And by the way if you are being paid for these insurance endorsements and use of member names you owe someone some money -- I got the insurance ad in the mail but have not been a member for at least 3 years. I wonder how many other ex-members were on an inflated database sold to these companies. Please remove me from the mailing list or I will file a complaint with my local postmaster. And, as Lee Iococca used to say in his Chrysler commercials: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way!"

Lee disliked those who do nothing -- and so do I! So do many of my fellow STRS retirees!

James O. Kimmel, M.Ed

Proud CORE member

STRS retiree