PAX Centurion - March / April 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • March/April 2015 • Page 27 Expires December 2014 From Anderson on page 23 April thoughts… Legal Notes: Amy Laura Davidson, Esq. Sandulli Grace P.C., Counsel to Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association L ast spring, the BPPA and a Coalition of all forty-four other City bargaining units formed a Public Employee Coalition to negotiate with the City concerning the plan design and contributions for health insurance to take effect on July 1, 2015. The Coalition sought to minimize the impact of proposed changes in health insurance upon employees by (1) consolidating health plans; (2) finding new ways achieve savings that do not involve cost shifting to employees; (3) minimiz- ing increases in co-pays; (4) avoiding upfront deductibles; and (5) steering clear of new co-pays for medical proce- dures and hospitalization. This is the second time that the Coalition has negotiated a health insurance agreement with the City. In July of 2011, the Coalition successfully avoided upfront deductibles, co-pays for imaging and for outpatient and inpatient hospitalization. This is in contrast to the trend by municipal employers to shift health insurance costs to employees by instituting upfront deductibles of up to $750 per family, imposing co-payments of up to $700 for hospitalization and requiring employees to bear a portion of the cost of imaging services. In addition, many cities and towns have forced their employ- ees into the state group insurance plans with substantially increased medical expenses borne by employees and a total loss of control over plan changes and cost increases. The successor health insurance agreement between the City and the Coalition runs for five years from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020. The Coalition held the line -- again avoiding upfront deductibles and hospitalization co-pays by agreeing to a modest increase (1.5%) in the employee’s premium share toward health insurance over a two year period and by consolidating health plan options. The new agree- ment provides: The number of plan offerings is reduced from six plans to three plans - - eliminating “Point of Service” plans in order to keep insur- ance premiums down. About 80% of the City’s current participants are in Blue Cross/ Blue Shield PPO, Harvard Pilgrim HMO and Neighborhood Health Plan HMO. Those three plans have been preserved in order to minimize dis- ruption to plan participants. The options offered to employees effective July 1, 2015 are; (1) a Preferred Provider plan [PPO] through Blue Cross/Blue Shield; (2) a Standard HMO plan through Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and (3) a “Value” HMO through Neighborhood Health Plan. Employees enrolled in Point of Service Plans [Blue Choice, Har- vard Pilgrim POS and Boston Medical Center Advantage HMO] will To your health: BPPA and Union Coalition negotiate five-year health insurance agreement with the City have to determine what plan to enroll in. There are no annual upfront deductibles, no inpatient or outpatient co-pays and no co-pays for MRIs and other imaging services in any of the three plans offered to employees There is a modest increase in office visit co-pays. The primary care doctor co- pay will increase to $20. The Specialist co-pay will increase to $30 effective July 1, 2015. The BPPA and the Coalition were involved in drafting the requests for proposals [RFP] and we reviewed each car- rier’s response to the RFP to determine which plans were most favorable. The Coalition continues to meet regularly to track health insurance carrier perfor- mance and to monitor the City’s insurance trust fund. TheAgreement reached in Boston represents an extremely favorable health plan arrangement for active and retired employees and their dependants for the next five years. The BPPA will continue to keep an eye on in- surance to ensure that you and your family receive high quality health care at an affordable cost. neglect of duty. Under Rule 109, §2, discipline is supposed to “incorporate the idea of training both for effective self-discipline and for group dis- cipline, for esprit de corps….”When officers act wrongly, whether through intentional commission or by ignorant omission, they should be held accountable. The mistakes of the heart should be punished, mistakes of the head should be corrected through training. When cases languish for years and years, no one gets beneficial retraining. ( Note : for those who follow my articles and believe that I was being dismissive of the Academy staff in my last article, I apologize if my wording was inartful. I respect the work you do and did not intend to offend anyone.) And after taking Internal Affairs three to five years to investigate something, it is absurd then to impose discipline so far after the event. Having a strong and compassionate Internal Affairs division would be a blessing for any police department. Everyone benefits from refreshers and retraining. Discipline as envisioned by Rule 109, §2 is not necessarily a bad thing in the overall picture. Per- haps if the neglect of duty rule was applicable to everyone, there may be less of it imposed on anyone? Stay safe out there, continue to shine, and continue to take care of each other.