Motion Picture Industry Health Plans
Among
The Strongest in the Nation:
Make Sure You Protect Them!
August 30, 2005 was just like any other day for the thousands
of members of the IATSE West Coast Studio Locals, but it shouldn’t
have been. That’s because August 30, 2005 was the day the U.S.
Census Bureau released data showing that the number of Americans
without health insurance had risen to 45.8 million. That figure
is six million more than the number of uninsured Americans in
2000, and represents the third successive year of deterioration
in health insurance coverage in the world’s most advanced and
democratic nation.
Given that the numbers for 2006 are predicted to be as equally
sobering, as will 2007, 2008 and on into the next decade, August
30, 2005 should have been a day every single member of the West
Coast Studio Locals looked in the mirror and said: “Thank goodness
our motion picture industry (MPI) health plan is among the best
in the nation. Now, what steps need to be taken to ensure that
we keep it that way to protect our union families for years to
come?”
Let’s be very clear about what has happened to health insurance
coverage in the last ten years, and how, despite a financial
assault on its very foundation, your MPI Health Plan has not
only weathered the storm, it has made benefit enhancements that
would have workers in most other industries green with envy.
During the period 1996 to May 2005, health care cost inflation
increased nationally by more than 15 percent per year. That’s
a 135 percent rise in less than a decade! Skyrocketing health
care costs have put tremendous pressure on health insurance plans
in every industry in the nation, resulting in tougher eligibility
requirements, higher monthly payments, and co-payment requirements.
In 2004 alone, your MPI Health Plan paid $301 million out of
the Active Member Plan, and $77 million from the Retiree Plan.
That means that with an assumed level of inflation of 10 percent,
with no changes in benefits and the same level of utilization,
the cost to maintain your MPI Health Plan could double in as
little as seven to eight years! The old days of Americans feeling
entitled to every single benefit available are quickly coming
to an end due to these stark economic facts.
Don’t take the U.S. Census Bureau’s word for it. Just ask workers
at two of the nation’s strongest corporations, General Motors
and Lucent Technologies. GM, the world’s largest automaker, recently
slashed health benefits for its more than 340,000 employees because
they were too expensive to maintain; telecommunications giant,
Lucent, whose recent merger with Alcatel made it a $25 billion
company, told its retirees that they would have to pay for the
entire cost of their continuing health coverage. And the assault
on worker’s health plans now extends to the public sector: an
article last year in Fortune described health benefits for retiring
city and county workers as a “time bomb quietly ticking away
in the nether lands of state and local government.” As Phillip
Mattera, director of the Washington D.C.-based Corporate Research
Project, a non-profit group that provides analysis of American
corporations and industries to labor organizations, noted in
an e-letter last year: “Apparently, giving retired firefighters
access to quality health coverage is now a form of fiscal terrorism.”
Despite the financial crisis that has beset health insurance
in the last ten years, MPI Health Plans have remained on firm
economic footing. Benefits have substantially increased while
eligibility levels have been maintained at a very modest requirement
of 300 hours of covered work every six months. Mergers of the
benefit plans of former Locals 644 and 666, and Local 700 into
the MPI Plans provided members of those locals access to quality
health insurance. Unlike the majority of health plans in the
United States, MPI plan members continue to enjoy no monthly
premiums and extremely low co-pays. In fact, through relatively
minor modifications (effective August 1, 2006), MPI Plan benefits
will continue to surpass current nationwide employee benefit
norms.
Here’s just a small sampling of the additional benefits MPI
Plan members have been able to enjoy over the last decade. Keep
in mind these were benefit enhancements for IATSE participants,
even as other industries, like automobile, steel, and transportation,
were slashing health insurance benefits to the bone.
1996 Addition
of Health Net & Industry Advantage HMOs
1996 Addition of PCS Mail Order Service
1997 Reduction of Delta Dental Deductible by 50 percent
1997 Addition of Blue Cross Physician Network
1998 Hearing Aids for Active Eligible Participants
1998 Retiree Comprehensive Physical Examinations
1999 Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder covered
1999 Blue Cross/Out-of-State Hospital Claims added
2000 Lifetime maximum benefits increased by 100 percent
2000 Birth Control Pills/Devices added to prescription drugs
2001 Active/Retiree/Eligible dependent coverage for Hearing Aids
2002 Immunization coverage of Hepatitis A
2002 Covered annual well childcare visits
2003 Lifted limits on Hospital stays
2003 Enhanced Participant privacy protections
2004 Flu shots covered for children ages six months to 13 years
2004 Lifetime maximum coverage per individual up 100 percent
2005 Lens replacement coverage following cataract surgery
2005 Prescription drugs derived from vitamins covered
A prime reason your health plans have remained so strong is
because they are jointly managed, under a multi-employer arrangement.
Administered by a Board of Trustees made up of representatives
from various employers and unions, multi-employer health plans
are better funded than single-employer plans. They have stricter
funding standards and are inherently stronger: if the company
goes out of business in a single-employer plan, the health plan
is no longer funded. In a multi-employer arrangement, as long
as the industry survives, the health plan does as well. Jointly
managed health plans offer more protection because IATSE shares
the responsibility with management, to determine what benefits
to provide, and who is eligible to participate. In a single-employer
plan the bottom line always wins out: no one is truly fighting
for the participants.
As a result of producer-contribution increases, negotiated
by IATSE, and strong, proactive health benefits management, your
current MPI Health Plan is among the best in the entire nation,
in any industry, bar none. This bears repeating: your current
MPI Health Plan stacks up favorably to the very best health plans
in the country. Some of the highlights of your MPI Health Plan
include:
> No monthly health plan premium
> No co-pay for use of Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) facilities
and their contracted providers: paid 100 percent
> 70/30 Out-of-Network: Plan pays 70 percent of the allowable amount for use
of a non-MPTF or Blue Cross/Blue Shield contracted provider
> Emergency room services are paid at 100 percent after the initial $50 co-pay
for each visit; co-payment is waived if admitted to hospital
> Active Participants/Eligible Dependents co-pay of $10 for 30-day supply
of generic drugs
> Active Participants/Eligible Dependents co-pay of $20 for 90-day supply
of mail order generic drugs
> Retirees/Eligible Dependents co-pay of $5 for 30-day supply of generic drugs
> Retirees/Eligible Dependents co-pay of $10 for 90-day supply of mail order
generic drugs
> Retiree Drug Program is substantially better than the new Medicare Part
D program
Of course, any health plan that protects working families so
well must be preserved at all costs. Annual funds to administer
health insurance plans in America are projected to top $800 million
by the year 2013; the inevitable result of these skyrocketing
costs will be the elimination of some plan benefits, and/or an
increase in participant charges. No one likes to see benefits
reduced or co-payments increased. But some Plan changes will
be necessary to ensure long-term survival. What are some of the
things IATSE plan participants and their eligible dependents
can do to help safeguard the future of their MPI Health Plan?
> Take the time to read through your health plan coverage
and learn exactly what benefits you are entitled to
> Do everything you can to take advantage of negotiated rates by using “in-network”
providers
> Using “out-of-network” providers puts plan members at the mercy of a doctor
or hospital who can charge whatever they want; out-of-pocket costs will be
higher for using non-MPTF facilities and providers
> Examine the real costs of drugs and services and ensure you are getting
real value for Plan’s dollars
> Whenever possible, choose generic drugs over brand name prescription medications
to avoid higher co-pays
Spending and investing Plan monies wisely will ensure that
IATSE families will be immune to fiscal health care pandemics
for five, ten, even twenty years down the line. The crisis is
not to be taken lightly: more difficult eligibility requirements
have resulted in the Screen Actors Guild Health Plan dropping
33 percent of its eligible participants! With the diligence of
the West Coast Studio Locals membership, and the proactive management
by IATSE and its Plan partners, a health insurance crisis like
the one General Motors, Lucent, United Airlines, or even the
Screen Actors Guild faced, will never impact our MPI Plan. Think
back to where you were on August 30, 2005, and then remember:
that day will repeat itself in 2006 and beyond. Don’t we all
want to be able to look in the mirror and say how fortunate we
are not to be one of the 45.8 million Americans without health
insurance coverage? You bet we do!
Enemies
Game Show Marathon
George Washington: Man of Decision
Home of the Brave
Killer Pad
Linclon Heights
Lovespring
One America
Parental Guidance Suggested
Pink Collar
Rest Stop
Soapnet Daytime Emmys Unzipped
Soapnet Daytime Emmy Red Carpet Special
Teeth
Underground
Untitled Mt. Vernon Project
Untitled Pilot, The
World Series of Blackjack
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