1199SEIU Funds 330 West 42nd Street New York, NY 10036-6977
Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID New York, NY Permit No. 3700
Summer 2010
1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation’s Fourth Annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala Set for December The 1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation will host its fourth annual “Care for Kids”Awards Gala, December 6, 2010, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York. The gala is an annual fundraiser for child care and youth programs that benefit low-income families in the communities that our institutions serve – families who lack access to affordable, collectively bargained child care benefits. In addition to supporting the 1199SEIU Future of America Learning Centers, the gala also aids the Child Care Corporation in grooming a new generation of healthcare workers who will deliver quality care in our institutions. This year’s theme is Combating Childhood Obesity and will highlight First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, which is a national initiative to fight America’s childhood obesity epidemic.
In line with that theme, among this year’s honorees are Dr. Philip Ozuah, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, and a major advocate of finding solutions to end childhood obesity. Dr. Ozuah, who also serves as physician-in–chief of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, recently led a team in creating an audio CD series designed to promote physical activity in children and adolescents. His innovative approaches to solving the obesity epidemic have positioned him as a highly regarded expert on the subject by media organizations. The Rooftop is located at 2 Desbrosses Street in Manhattan, between Hudson and Greenwich streets. Save the Date cards will be mailed in June. If you would like to obtain additional information regarding the gala, please call (212) 564-2220.
Save the Date The 1199SEIU/ Employer Child Care Corporation will host its fourth annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala, December 6, 2010, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm Tribeca Rooftop, NYC
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS In these past few months, we’ve seen the ushering in of landmark federal legislation – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In this issue of 1199SEIU Funds Employer News, you’ll read about the impact that the health reform legislation will have on our industry and National Benefit Fund, including new federal funding that may help us to make benefits for early 1199SEIU retirees more affordable. You will also read about a new $7 million grant to the Training and Employment Funds that will help workers meet some of the new needs that the legislation will create, like streamlining care through electronic medical records. Finally, we will tell you about the Child Care Corporation’s upcoming gala, which will highlight the fight against childhood obesity. As in past years, the gala will raise funds to
IN THIS ISSUE . . . The Impact of Health Reform on Our Industry and Benefit Funds . . 2 Making Early Retiree Coverage More Affordable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds Wins $7 Million HCRA Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 St. Vincent’s Members Get Assistance from the Training and Employment Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation’s Fourth Annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala Set for December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
provide low-income children in our communities with access to the critically important child care programs that so many of our 1199SEIU families are able to enjoy through the Child Care Funds. As always, we look forward to continuing our work with you in all of our efforts over the coming months. Sincerely,
Mitra Behroozi Executive Director Benefit and Pension Funds
Deborah King Executive Director Training and Employment Funds
Vivian Fox Executive Director Child Care Funds
The Impact of Health Reform on Our Industry and Benefit Funds The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a significant achievement that will, after years of effort, extend coverage to millions who critically need it, reduce the burden of uncompensated care on our industry and lay a solid foundation for improving our healthcare delivery system and patient care. It will also end commercial insurers’ abuses, requiring them to behave more like our National Benefit Fund by providing comprehensive, affordable benefits, ending the practice of denial and rescission of coverage, and spending the majority of their income directly on benefits. The Massachusetts model for expanding healthcare coverage has already shown how our industry can benefit from reform; since the state’s legislation was enacted, its hospitals have seen a substantial reduction in charity care and bad debt, and are receiving more regular payments from newly insured patients.
Of course, the Act will touch our National Benefit Fund as well. While we already meet many of the main provisions of the law, we will be required to make some changes. The most significant changes will include extending dependent coverage until age 26 and eliminating lifetime benefit limits. While the law appears to provide an exemption for collectively bargained plans until the expiration of their contract, draft regulations just recently released state that the exemption will not apply to these two provisions, as well as others. Unless the regulations are modified, we will have to implement these new coverage expansions by January 1, 2011. The National Benefit Fund actuaries have been analyzing the cost of implementation. The Fund, along with the Trustees’ Cost Containment Committee, will continue to monitor the situation.
Making Early Retiree Coverage More Affordable The new law provides $5 billion in temporary reinsurance funding for early retiree coverage that will support those employers and labormanagement plans, like our Funds, that help to bridge the coverage gap before these retirees become eligible for Medicare. All plans that apply must show that they are containing costs for members with chronic conditions. With our strong cost containment and wellness programs already in place, the National Benefit Fund is aggressively pursuing a share of this funding. The federal government has indicated that applications will be accepted beginning June 1. Stay tuned for more information.
2 EMPLOYER NEWS Summer 2010
1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds Wins $7 Million HCRA Grant In these times of shrinking resources, the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds have been making great efforts to secure foundation and state funding. As a result, the Funds recently were awarded a $7 million grant (out of $18 million available statewide) by the New York State Department of Health. The grant is through the Health Workforce Training Initiative of the New York State Health Care Reform Act (HCRA). The funded projects will help the healthcare industry meet current and projected workforce shortages; train workers in emerging technologies; increase workforce diversity; and train workers for changes in job requirements. The following programs were funded by the grant: 1. Training for Implementation of Electronic Medical Records 2. Skills Enhancement for Patient Care Providers in Acute and Long-Term Care 3. Licensed Practical Nurse Training 4. New Registered Nurse Training 5. BSN Completion for Employed Nurses The programs will be offered to incumbent and laid-off workers needing new skills, or to upgrade skills or fill shortages.The grant is retroactive and runs from January 2010 to December 2011.
St.Vincent’s Members Get Assistance from the Training and Employment Funds 1199SEIU Job Security Fund (JSF) staff have been working diligently to assist workers laid off from St.Vincent’s Hospital. With support from staff members across the Training and Employment Funds, JSF staff have been helping workers on site at the hospital, as well as in our offices. We ask employers to help us by continuing to send any eligible job openings to the JSF so we can place the St.Vincent’s workers as soon as possible.
Summer 2010 EMPLOYER NEWS 3
The Impact of Health Reform on Our Industry and Benefit Funds The new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a significant achievement that will, after years of effort, extend coverage to millions who critically need it, reduce the burden of uncompensated care on our industry and lay a solid foundation for improving our healthcare delivery system and patient care. It will also end commercial insurers’ abuses, requiring them to behave more like our National Benefit Fund by providing comprehensive, affordable benefits, ending the practice of denial and rescission of coverage, and spending the majority of their income directly on benefits. The Massachusetts model for expanding healthcare coverage has already shown how our industry can benefit from reform; since the state’s legislation was enacted, its hospitals have seen a substantial reduction in charity care and bad debt, and are receiving more regular payments from newly insured patients.
Of course, the Act will touch our National Benefit Fund as well. While we already meet many of the main provisions of the law, we will be required to make some changes. The most significant changes will include extending dependent coverage until age 26 and eliminating lifetime benefit limits. While the law provides an exemption for collectively bargained plans until the expiration of their contract, it now appears from draft regulations just recently released that the exemption will not apply to these two main provisions. We may have to implement them by January 1, 2011. The National Benefit Fund actuaries have been analyzing the cost of implementation. The Fund, along with the Trustees’ Cost Containment Committee, will continue to monitor the situation.
Making Early Retiree Coverage More Affordable The new law provides $5 billion in temporary reinsurance funding for early retiree coverage that will support those employers and labormanagement plans, like our Funds, that help to bridge the coverage gap before these retirees become eligible for Medicare. All plans that apply must show that they are containing costs for members with chronic conditions. With our strong cost containment and wellness programs already in place, the National Benefit Fund is aggressively pursuing a share of this funding. The federal government has indicated that applications will be accepted beginning June 1. Stay tuned for more information.
2 EMPLOYER NEWS Summer 2010
1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds Wins $7 Million HCRA Grant In these times of shrinking resources, the 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds have been making great efforts to secure foundation and state funding. As a result, the Funds recently were awarded a $7 million grant (out of $18 million available statewide) by the New York State Department of Health. The grant is through the Health Workforce Training Initiative of the New York State Health Care Reform Act (HCRA). The funded projects will help the healthcare industry meet current and projected workforce shortages; train workers in emerging technologies; increase workforce diversity; and train workers for changes in job requirements. The following programs were funded by the grant: 1. Training for Implementation of Electronic Medical Records 2. Skills Enhancement for Patient Care Providers in Acute and Long-Term Care 3. Licensed Practical Nurse Training 4. New Registered Nurse Training 5. BSN Completion for Employed Nurses The programs will be offered to incumbent and laid-off workers needing new skills, or to upgrade skills or fill shortages.The grant is retroactive and runs from January 2010 to December 2011.
St.Vincent’s Members Get Assistance from the Training and Employment Funds 1199SEIU Job Security Fund (JSF) staff have been working diligently to assist workers laid off from St.Vincent’s Hospital. With support from staff members across the Training and Employment Funds, JSF staff have been helping workers on site at the hospital, as well as in our offices. We ask employers to help us by continuing to send any eligible job openings to the JSF so we can place the St.Vincent’s workers as soon as possible.
Summer 2010 EMPLOYER NEWS 3
1199SEIU Funds 330 West 42nd Street New York, NY 10036-6977
Non-Profit U.S. Postage PAID New York, NY Permit No. 3700
Summer 2010
1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation’s Fourth Annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala Set for December The 1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation will host its fourth annual “Care for Kids”Awards Gala, December 6, 2010, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York. The gala is an annual fundraiser for child care and youth programs that benefit low-income families in the communities that our institutions serve – families who lack access to affordable, collectively bargained child care benefits. In addition to supporting the 1199SEIU Future of America Learning Centers, the gala also aids the Child Care Corporation in grooming a new generation of healthcare workers who will deliver quality care in our institutions. This year’s theme is Combating Childhood Obesity and will highlight First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, which is a national initiative to fight America’s childhood obesity epidemic.
In line with that theme, among this year’s honorees are Dr. Philip Ozuah, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, and a major advocate of finding solutions to end childhood obesity. Dr. Ozuah, who also serves as physician-in–chief of the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, recently led a team in creating an audio CD series designed to promote physical activity in children and adolescents. His innovative approaches to solving the obesity epidemic have positioned him as a highly regarded expert on the subject by media organizations. The Rooftop is located at 2 Desbrosses Street in Manhattan, between Hudson and Greenwich streets. Save the Date cards will be mailed in June. If you would like to obtain additional information regarding the gala, please call (212) 564-2220.
Save the Date The 1199SEIU/ Employer Child Care Corporation will host its fourth annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala, December 6, 2010, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm Tribeca Rooftop, NYC
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS In these past few months, we’ve seen the ushering in of landmark federal legislation – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In this issue of 1199SEIU Employer News, you’ll read about the impact that the health reform legislation will have on our industry and National Benefit Fund, including new federal funding that may help us to make benefits for early 1199SEIU retirees more affordable. You will also read about a new $7 million grant to the Training and Employment Funds that will help workers meet some of the new needs that the legislation will create, like streamlining care through electronic medical records. Finally, we will tell you about the Child Care Corporation’s upcoming gala, which will highlight the fight against childhood obesity. As in past years, the gala will raise funds to
IN THIS ISSUE . . . The Impact of Health Reform on Our Industry and Benefit Funds . . 2 Making Early Retiree Coverage More Affordable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds Wins $7 Million HCRA Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 St. Vincent’s Members Get Assistance from the Training and Employment Funds . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1199SEIU/Employer Child Care Corporation’s Fourth Annual “Care for Kids” Awards Gala Set for December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
provide low-income children in our communities with access to the critically important child care programs that so many of our 1199SEIU families are able to enjoy through the Child Care Funds. As always, we look forward to continuing our work with you in all of our efforts over the coming months. Sincerely,
Mitra Behroozi Executive Director Benefit and Pension Funds
Deborah King Executive Director Training and Employment Funds
Vivian Fox Executive Director Child Care Funds