The Indiana State Board of Education’s recommendations to school districts for coping with the $300 million in cuts appears to be focused on medical insurance costs for good reason. Its recommendations include: Schools districts join the state health insurance plan; and, having all employees contribute equally and equitably to insurance plans.
For your consideration below is a comparison of MSD Washington Township’s annual cost for family PPO medical insurance compared to a government employee benchmark courtesy of the 2009 “Employer Health Benefits Annual Survey” conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust: http://ehbs.kff.org/
| Annual Family Insurance Costs | Total Premium Cost | Employee Cost | Taxpayer Cost |
| State/Local Gov Benchmark | $13,891 | $3,195 | $10,696 |
| MSDWT teachers | $20,320 | $6,711 | $13,609 |
| MSDWT administration | $15,716 | $1 | $15,715 |
Based on these data, if MSD Washington Township insurance taxpayer costs were to reflect public and private sector benchmarks, perhaps it could afford the State of Indiana’s budget reductions without cutting classroom expenditures or laying off teachers or teaching assistants.
The above information are calculations made by MSDWT school board member Wright based on cost information provided by the MSDWT Administration and the Kaiser source cited above. The implied conclusion does not necessarily reflect the views of other board members.
Greg Wright
At first glance, these figures look promising.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for IPS: Do IPS administrators have different health insurance plans and/or premiums than teachers?
Evidently administrators in MSDWT have no contribution ($1.00) for their health insurance. Is the situation similar for IPS administrators?
Personally I think IPS and the union has sold us short and not activily looked for companies to bid. I think they expect the insurance companies to come to them with offers.
ReplyDeleteWhat we have (IPS teachers insurance) is awful. Especially if you a teacher that has the audacity (sorry about spelling) to have a family.
Anything would be better. I would imagine going under the state plan would spread the cost out even more and lower some of what we pay.
Seems reasonable to look into joining. Seeing if it is beneficial or not. I think anything would be better than what we are getting now.
Of course when I entered the district we actually had four of five insurance companies and plans to choose from and we paid a lot less. There is really no choice right now.
The larger the number of people who are insured, the lower the premiums. I imagine that in years past when IPS had a greater number of teachers that health insurance cost less and there were more choices.
ReplyDeleteJoining the state health insurance plan would place us in a larger pool of folks to be insured; the rates would be lower.
By the way, I have nothing good to say about any health insurance plan that is supported by the union.
During the insurance review by IEA, IPS only had two insurance companies who wanted IPS as a group for health insurance. The facts are we have no middle-aged and families in IPS. The State of Indiana has $500 out of pocket perscriptions cost before the co-pay takes place every year. I have not gone line by line, but it could cost the teacher about $1,000 more in co-pays. The cost would be cheaper for teachers and the school system and with the new health mandates by the federal governmnet, we would have a better deal. Many of the insurance companies that we had before are now out of business?
ReplyDeleteinsurance is a scam. we need socialized medicine.
ReplyDeleteSome of you will remember, back in the day, we paid a penny a paycheck for insurance.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, the insurance companies got greedy.
The reason I heard for raising our rates was IPS employees abused the the health system.
How do you "abuse the health care system"?
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance rates for all businesses, whether private or public, used to be much less expensive.
ReplyDeleteMy spouse was an officer in a regional home building company and was the designated person to procure health insurance for the company's employees. It was amazing to learn about the data spreadsheets showing how the various employees abused their health insurance. The largest abuse was by people who would go to the Emergency Room for minor ailments (such as, sore throats, ear aches, colds, fevers, etc.) rather than go to their approved medical doctor. An Emergency Room visit at that time cost way over $200 for each visit; whereas, the doctor's office visit had about a $10 co-pay. As a result, health insurance rates went up for that particular company.
Life style choices (such as: smoking, heavy drinking, drugs, obesity, etc.) also push the health insurance rates up for all of us, even if we're living a life as 'pure as the driven snow', so to speak.
I suppose those fellow employees who still smoke, drink heavily, do drugs, and are morbidly obese could pay higher health insurance premiums to offset their higher health care costs. Life insurance premiums are based on life style choices, why not health insurance?
A few people do ruin it for all of us!
Reasons why health insurance costs have risen:
ReplyDelete1. Unfettered tort lawsuits against doctors and pharmaceutical companies, which is essentially extortion. Money-hungry trial attorneys all know that the insurance companies and hospitals will settle, even if they are not at fault. This encourages law suits on the thinnest of reasons. Since trial attorneys are allowed to contribute to judicial campaign funds, the judiciary is suborned to the point where few if any frivolous and unreasonable suits are thrown out on summary judgment. The continuing extortion of millions of dollars monthly is a huge part of health insurance costs. Doctors and hospitals have to practice medicine defensively, assuming suit, also increasing health care costs through exorbitant medical malpractice insurance. This is the same situation for teachers who feel the need for professional liability insurance, except our malpractice insurance is cheaper.
2. Use of emergency rooms by people who are not legal tax paying citizens of this county, who do not pay for the services, so the costs are borne now by the people who do pay their bills and the insurers. Right now, illegal aliens have free health care in this country, and we all pay. Instead of addressing immigration reform, providing guest worker visas for non-permanent workers and a path to citizenship for people who want to be citizens, the current health care bill ignored the issue and a major part of the increase in costs.
3. Lack of self-responsibility in health choices and lifestyle for many of those patients who are chronically ill. A large number of chronic illnesses in this country are the direct result of cigarette and other smoking, alcohol and other drug abuse, and obesity from poor diet choices and no physical exercise. Health care reform must hold those who make poor life style choices accountable. It is inequitable and part of the rising costs to burden responsible people, with the costs of those who make poor choices.
And, as Forrest Gump quipped, "That's all I've got to say about that."
We're all pretty familiar with the physical effects of smoking, including cancer, emphysema, stroke, etc. However, health insurance companies are now raising health insurance rates for those who risk the dangers of smoking, opening the door for a kind of personal responsibility that hasn't yet been addressed in terms of medical coverage.
ReplyDeleteI would gladly submit to any tests required to prove I don't use tobacco products if I thought my health insurance premiums would decrease significantly.
At USA Today, a recent article explores this topic: "A growing number of private and public employers are requiring employees who use tobacco to pay higher premiums, hoping that will motivate more of them to stop smoking and lower health care costs for the companies and their workers."
And it's easy to see why employers would approve of this move. The effects of smoking cost more than just the smoker. When the Union Camp Corporation evaluated the health costs of 700 of their employees in 1992, they discovered that nonsmoking employees cost the company $462 less in health care costs than smoking employees. Among 400 production employees for whom there was absenteeism data, each nonsmoker saved the company $284 of sick pay.
And, a study of 2,500 postal employees published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the absentee rate for smokers was 33% higher than for nonsmokers.
Of course, that doesn't even touch the healthcare costs, the most direct reason why health insurance rates are going up for smokers. $75.5 billion in excess medical expenditures can be directly attributed to smoking.
Some people make rash statements without having the facts. This tends to add to the disinformation and anger to those who accept what they read as the truth. Only two companies bid for the IPS insurance and each company had a requirement that they were the exclusive carrier. If you think that you have other companies that are interested then you need to share the name. You won't find any. Secondly, IPS/IEA explored joining the state insurance plan and we were rejected because of the average age of our staff. In addition, the state now has a HSA which is a mess and is costing state employees a ton of money. The reason we have heard so much about healthcare in the last few months is that it is at a crisis point in this country and the insurance company execs are greedy and politicians like Evan Bayh won't vote to harness them. Could it be the $2 million a year that Susan Bayh earns from sitting on their boards.
ReplyDeleteBy and large, is our IPS staff too old or is it too unhealthy to get decent health insurance?
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance companies look at much more than average age when making decisions whether to offer coverage or not. These companies also closely review the health records of the group collectively. They look for things such as types of medications used, types of surgeries frequently performed, reasons for doctor office visits, reasons for hospitalizations, etc. In short, they get real picky with the people they might insure. If the people look like an unhealthy bunch, overall, then there's no health insurance plan with that company.
No names being mentioned, offhand I can think of at least six different people I have known in two years in IPS who have had knee replacement surgeries and hip replacement surgeries. All were grossly overweight folks, but none were old in years. Not only did they have these surgeries which were elective, they scheduled them during the school year so subs were needed. They did not want to ruin their summer vacations. These type things really hurt our chances of getting health insurance at lower rates. If I've ruffled feathers, then I have ruffled feathers.
I am glad that being judgemental and pompous is not a condition treatable by medical insurance or you alone would raise the IPS rates. It is only common sense that as we age we encouter more health problems. That is not unique to IPS. I also doubt your amateur opinion that hip or knee surgery is "elective" surgery. Boob jobs and tummy tucks are elective. Simply because an indiviual may have somewhat of an option when to schedule an operation does not make it elective.
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance underwriters review the group applicants' medical histories and assess collective group risks before deciding whether a group is one that they wish to insure or not. Sad to report, but after HIPPA was passed, the federal government actually has greater access, not less access, to our health records.
ReplyDeleteIf you're in a group that has a lot of individual risks, then the chances of getting coverage is reduced. Or, if the group does receive coverage, the premiums are higher to cover those individuals who present risks.
All I know about this is that several years ago, IPS health insurance was bad and most of the people I know (in other professions) had good insurance.
ReplyDeleteNow, IPS insurance is very bad and most people I know have mediocre insurance coverage.
IPS insurance seems to be, on average of hundreds of people I have talked to about their insurance, a "poor man's" version of health insurance.
How much effort is really put into the process of the IEA seeking potential providers?
Would the IEA really act on an individual teacher's own efforts to track down a better provider? Or, would it be wasted effort?
Inquiring minds want to know.
I agree that the unhealthy lifestyle people are the cause of high insurance costs, not some corporate boogeyman and not IPS. If a hypothetical insurance company could turn down all smokers and recent nonsmokers, all overweight people, and all people who will not follow standard-practice treatment plans for their condition or illness, they could offer super-low insurance rates. As it is, I go without insurance because even the cheapest, high-deductable, catastrophic-only policies cost way more than what paying for my healthcare out of pocket costs me.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how IPS insurance compares to MSDWT, but an employee paying $6711 a year for health insurance is really good in the real world, even if it is an HMO. If everyone you know is paying less than that for better coverage, you must only know high-ranking govt or corporate employees. I don't know anyone, not a single person, who pays less than $100 a month for health insurance.
ReplyDeleteWe can thank a lot of our obese and our cigarette puffing co-workers for a reason that health insurance companies do not want to insure IPS employees.
ReplyDeleteObesity aggravates all sorts of health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems, strokes, bad knees, back problems, etc. If a person has diabetes or high blood pressure, which can happen to anyone, but that person does not follow their doctor's treatment plan to stop eating sugary desserts, donuts, gravy, greasy foods, etc. , then that person is a 'risk' and health insurance companies don't want to insure them.
IPS has enough of people who fall into 'risk' categories and health insurance companies steer clear of us or offer us cheap coverage.
We all know the health risks of smoking so why even go into it again.
I think obnoxious peers who look down their noses at their co workers probably are type A personalities who have have a much higher rate of stroke, heart disease and need for stress related treatments. IPS insurance is not good. We all know that but if want to see a group with worse insurance then you should look at state employees HSA insurance. Also IPS pays around $5000 of our medical insurance and then we pay everything over that. Many companies pay much less.......I am hoping that the healthcare reform bill will provide us with some of the needed relief.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure the IEA would search out health insurance carriers for individuals. The union is just that -- a union, a collective body of people, both healthy and not so healthy. As long as the health incident pool of our collective body (IPS) presents a high percentage of risk/incidents, the health insurance underwriters won't even think about being a provider.
ReplyDeletePeople who are employed by Clarian Hospitals are offered a deep discount for their health insurance if they are: 1) non-smokers, and 2) have a BMI of less than 30. They are tested for body fat and are given a simple urine test to check for the presence of nicotine. There are other large organizations who offer the same benefits to those workers who elect not to smoke and to maintain a weight within the normal range for their height and bone structure.
I'd be willing to do that. Anybody else feel the same way?
Basically, a discount for a healthy lifestyle is similar to auto insurance. If you have a clean driving record, your insurance rates are lower. If you had a stellar driving record, would you be willing to pay higher premiums? Would you think a person is obnoxious for not wanting to pay for their co-workers poor driving habits?
Exactly. If auto insurance were run like health insurance, then everyone would be paying 1000 month for that too. Because the drunk and reckless drivers could not be denied coverage, and their increased expense would be dumped onto the safe drivers. You can call that obnoxious if you want, but its the way it is. For every person who "gets" more from their insurance than they pay in, there are 100 people paying for coverage they never use.
ReplyDelete@obnoxious peer above:
ReplyDeleteAre you a physician? I am and I help negotiate the healthcare coverage for the practitioners in the State with Anthem. Everyone is paying higher premiums for the poor lifestyle choices and bad habits of the residents! The rates are set by an actuary considering the usage pool. Smoking, alcohol use and obesity are the 3 leading factors that lead to higher rates.
I thought the tobacco companies gave the states millions of dollars in a court ruling. What happened to it? Why wasn't it used to defray insurance cost? Also, a huge amount of taxes was applied to each package. Where did all that money go to? Just thought I would ask.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Center for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov)
ReplyDeleteResearch has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels referred to as "overweight" and "obesity,"* the risks for the following conditions also increases:1
Coronary heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
Stroke
Liver and Gallbladder disease
Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)
*Overweight is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher; obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or higher. For more, see Defining Obesity.
For more information about these and other health problems associated with overweight and obesity, visit Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults.
Related Resources
The Economic Consequences of Obesity
References
1NIH, NHLBI Obesity Education Initiative. Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Available online:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf (PDF-1.25Mb)
The Tobacco settlement money was used for Medicaid. Perhaps we should study the DNA and genetic background of people for histories of certain diseases in their families. Then we could exclude them from the coverage as well as the smokers and fat asses. Then we could find a way to see if people are using safe sex and they could be excluded also. Then women of child rearing age could be excluded. Perhaps all IPS teachers should be excluded due to the high stress level of our working conditions.
ReplyDeleteJeeze!!! Wasn't Santa good to you this year? We are studying DNA, genetics, and trying to help those addicted to tobacco, drugs, and alcohol.
ReplyDeleteThere's also those working to help with obesity.
We were having an intelligent discussion and then the bitterness creeps in.
My questions have never been answered about why such limited insurance options are open for IPS teachers.
ReplyDeleteI assume IEA leaders are reading this blog. If so, (1). please post the names of all of the health insurance providers you contacted and tried to negotiate with; (2). Please detail the offers of the "Final Two" companies that were mentioned in a message previously (and name the two companies); (3). Please tell us who are the people in IEA who are involved in negotiating with the health insurance companies; (4). Please inform us about IEA's level of welcoming and seriously considering input from its members who are willing to do necessary "legwork" to try to find better plans.
Also, could someone please explain to me how that insurance companies know the height and weight of all of IPS' multiple hundreds of employees? Do the insurance companies send people to the schools with bathroom scales to weigh everybody?
Every company which employs workers in Indiana is going to employ people with health risks and health problems. Indiana's working ranks are filled with fat people who smoke. But, on average, IPS' insurance offerings are much worse than private companies' offerings.
Also, I dispute that state insurance is worse than what IPS employees currently have. I have researched this thoroughly and state insurance appears to me to be a much better alternative for teachers.
If you believe state insurance is not a better alternative, please inform me specifically why it is not better than what IPS employees have now.
Also, I have been told that the state is seriously considering offering its health insurance coverage to all school employees in Indiana. Someone above wrote that the IEA tried to check into state insurance and was denied. My thought on this is that the state wouldn't be negotiating with individual school districts if it is contemplating offering its insurance to all school districts in the state.
Last, but not least, why is IEA's communication to its members so poor? Have you checked out their website lately?
My son is also a public school teacher, but he teaches in another state on the eastern seacoast. We were talking about health insurance today, and his health insurance is through the state in which he lives and teaches. In fact, all public school districts in his state have 'state health insurance' as one option.
ReplyDeleteOf course, health insurance varies by state, and his state health insurance is likely totally different than Indiana's state health insurance.
I'm like the poster directly above -- I'd like to know the names of the two health insurance carriers that IEA supposedly talked with. Why does the union select our health insurance?
Why does anyone even bother to belong to our union at this point. It's just a club. Their website has not been updated in ages and that says a lot about the union leadership -- lazy and complacent.
I just checked out the IEA website. So typical of IPS people. It's all about getting your picture published. Do we really need a big picture of Ann Wilkins?
ReplyDeleteHealth insurance risk pools are large groups of
ReplyDeleteindividual entities (IPS teachers)
whose medical costs are combined in
order to calculate premiums. The pooling of
risk is fundamental to insurance. Large pools
of similar risks exhibit stable and measurable
characteristics that enable actuaries to estimate
future costs with an acceptable degree
of accuracy. This, in turn, enables actuaries to
determine premium levels that will be stable
over time, relative to overall trends.
[Pooling risks together allows the costs of
those at higher risk of high medical costs to be
subsidized by those at lower risk.]
Creating a
large risk pool, however, does not necessarily
translate into lower premiums. Just as a pool
with more low-risk individuals can result in
lower premiums, a large pool with a disproportionate
share of high-risk individuals
will have higher premiums. When healthier
individuals perceive no economic benefit
to purchasing coverage, the insurance pool
becomes increasingly skewed to those with
higher expected claims. This is why our insurance rates in IPS are high and why our insurance is not as good as other groups.
Like Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and it is us."
Don't look too closely at the IEA's negotiations with insurance companies. From what I hear, it was pretty crooked.
ReplyDeleteWho are the IEA people who negotiate with the health insurance providers???
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know their names?
Some questions:
ReplyDelete1) Do IPS administrators have the same health insurance that teachers have?
2) Are administrators premiums the same as teachers?
3) Do School Board members receive their health insurance through IPS?
4) If yes, are their premiums the same as teachers?
"The Indiana State Board of Education’s recommendations to school districts for coping with the $300 million in cuts appears to be focused on medical insurance costs for good reason. Its recommendations include: Schools districts join the state health insurance plan; and, having all employees contribute equally and equitably to insurance plans."
ReplyDeleteReading this quote from Greg Wright, it sounds like currently that school districts do NOT have 100% participation in health insurance plans. Likely, some of the young teachers opt not to get health insurance coverage because they pay more in premiums than they ever use in health care. The key words from Greg Wright are: "all employees contribute equally and equitably to insurance plans."
What Greg Wright is proposing is that ALL teachers participate in the health insurance plan selected. This would bring down premiums because younger teachers have fewer health risks.
This would constitute a mandatory enrollment in health insurance by ALL district teachers.
http://www.in.gov/spd/files/2009_rates.pdf
ReplyDeleteThe above link is to the State of Indiana health insurance rates for the different options.
_________________________________________
http://www.in.gov/spd/files/2009_plan_comparison.pdf
This link shows a comparison of the three State of Indiana health insurance options.
I know for a fact that board members can get health insurance through IPS, because a former board member told me he had it. I don't know anything about the cost, however.
ReplyDeleteI talked to a friend who works for the state. He says the state plan is complicated and very paperwork cumbersome. The premium he pays is $35 per pay. He must pay the first $1750 out of his pocket including doctor visits and prescriptions. Then he has to pay 80% of all costs[again including office visits and prescriptions] until he reaches $3400. What is cumbersome is that he is responsible for collecting and submitting paperwork to prove to the state what spending level he has reached. Providers don't know what level to charge since they don't know the level the patient has reached so many receipts have to be submitted and then refund checks processed. Some doctors will let a balance ride but drugstores want all of the money at the time that the prescrition is delivered. If you were young and had no or limited expenses, it might be a good deal for you. In fact, young people might never reach the $1750 annual level and thus receive no insurance coverage for the year. This is a nutshell version and there are lots of other caveats. It also depends on whether you use in network or out of network providers.
ReplyDelete"I just checked out the IEA website. So typical of IPS people. It's all about getting your picture published. Do we really need a big picture of Ann Wilkins"
ReplyDelete**She looks like a big ass blimp! This is our great elected leader 'Big Girl'.
She was Eugene White's candidate for president and the elementary teachers bought her campaign. The middle schools and high schools realized that she was Eugene's candidate.
ReplyDelete[**She looks like a big ass blimp! This is our great elected leader 'Big Girl'.]
ReplyDeleteLOL --- she is like Eugene White -- got to have that big picture posted where everyone can see it
Glad I did not vote for her!
"Don't look too closely at the IEA's negotiations with insurance companies. From what I hear, it was pretty crooked."
ReplyDeleteI am not in a position to know for certain if that remark is true or not. But I do know that the IEA has certainly seemed to be very reluctant to share with its members all of the important details of its health insurance negotiations - including facts and figures.
The fact that the IEA is so evasive when it comes to communicating specifics about its health insurance negotiations makes me think that the above poster's comment ("pretty crooked") may be worth consideration.
I think it is pretty safe to assume that the IEA, in general, is not doing its job and does not seem to be serving the best interests of its membership.
If I am wrong, I hope someone will give me specific reasons for why I am wrong about this.
As I understand it, many (perhaps most?) IPS teachers do not regularly receive the IEA newsletter that is supposed to be regularly published.
ReplyDeleteWhen you go to the IEA website, the last posting of the IEA newsletter on the website is March of 2009.
Teachers are paying a lot of money in union dues and they do not seem to be getting a lot in return.
The last IEA newsletter on the website is March 17, 2008!
ReplyDeleteThat is almost two years ago. What's up with this bunch?
Ann Wilkins sure managed to get her picture posted on the homepage, but she quit after that job was finished.
Just like Eugene wanted her to......is there an impeachment procedure in IEA??
ReplyDeleteGeez, looked at that picture on the IEA page and Ann Wilkins looks like she was posing for a "pin-up girl" photo. Guess she does not realize that the IEA home page is not her personal website. Her big ego matches everything else in the pic.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.carmelclayteachers.org/index.htm
ReplyDeleteI got curious and wanted to see what another local teacher union put on their website. Wow, our IEA president is lazy in comparison!
I picked Carmel Clay because they have been in the news often with their negotiations.
The Carmel Clay Teachers union even has "unofficial" board minutes posted. The "unofficial" minutes are written by the union president and include all that happened as it pertains to the union's issues. Good job they're doing in Carmel. Their website is loaded with updates, all kinds of communication, etc.
They even have lists giving the names of their different negotiation team members. Plus I read a posted letter about their health insurance negotiations.
Check it out! There's no reason in the world that the IEA officers cannot do the same thing! Ann Wilkins is being paid her full teacher's salary and she's not doing squat.
Also, I did not see a big picture posted of their union president!
IEA president needs to go. What can we do to get rid of her? As far as I am concerned she has not addressed any issues that teachers have. Is there another union we can join? I pay good money to support the IEA and NEA and I would like some answers.
ReplyDeleteI'm not totally sold on the whole union idea, but if I knew that the IEA had super strong leadership I would join. From what I read here, it sounds like the leadership is too personally friendly and almost cozy with the superintendent. Union leaders cannot afford to be buddies with the superintendent. It also makes me question the thought processes of those teachers who did vote for the current president. What were they possibly thinking?
ReplyDeleteI didn't vote for her because I knew she was cozy with White and that was who he wanted so he could control the union. Others apparently didn't believe that. Eugene got what he wanted.
ReplyDeleteI'm in an elementary school, and nobody I know voted for her either. Who counts those votes and reports the results?
ReplyDeletePoster #8 above who refers to living a life style "as pure as the driven snow" reminds me of a country and western song entitled "She was pure as the driven snow...until she drifted" LOL
ReplyDeleteWe need some new medical treatment for food allergies...I am allergic to ALL food...it makes me break out in fat...
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I never gained weight until going to work at I.P.S. in an elementary school..treats in the faculty "lounge" (an oxymoron, by the way) for every holiday, requirement to bring snacks for every meeting and workshop, 10 minute lunch hours where one "snorfs" down the food because the bell will ring and the copy machine won't work, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I never gained weight until going to work at I.P.S. in an elementary school..treats in the faculty "lounge" (an oxymoron, by the way) for every holiday, requirement to bring snacks for every meeting and workshop, 10 minute lunch hours where one "snorfs" down the food because the bell will ring and the copy machine won't work, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteSo, IPS is now responsible for you being a cow? Try bringing a salad every now and then.
IPS is the home of the pitch-in. Wonder why we have so many heavy weights? It's a lifestyle choice, like smoking.
ReplyDeleteDon't Forget to include the 20% Obamacare Tax for any plan over $8,000.
ReplyDeleteAnd the huge increases in Co-Pays and deductibles under the Sebnate Plan.
Who knew "Free" healthcare wasn't going to be "Free!"
Ouch...to the person who thought I was saying that IPS was responsible for me being a cow. (which I am not - actually more like a calf at this point but many more years at IPS and I could be mooo-ving on up the scale - not the salary scale, either) My point was really that we seem to think we need food for every event - it is a cultural thing. I took a class at IUPUI and we had to sign up to bring food to class - how crazy is that??
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at the state website and breakdown on insurance cost (out of pocket and other). I think IPS should look into it.
ReplyDeleteI think it is better than what we got.
Of course I would be able to return to doctors I have had to drop in the past whom I liked more. Doctors who don't take our Advantage (that is no real advantage).