Evansville Fire and Police Departments Facing A Major Increase in Health Insurance Plan
The CCO has learned through multiple sources from the Evansville Fire Department and the Evansville Police Department that the City Of Evansville is trying to force what can only be considered as a catastrophic Employee Health Insurance plan on its employees for 2017. Â According to sources from both departments if approved by City Council the proposed changes could be economically devastating to many of its employees.
It looks  like the years of mismanagement and foolish spending practices, the Winnecke Administration may be trying to balance the 2017 budget  shortfalls off the backs of its public safety employees.  We are told that the proposed Health Insurance plan being pushed by Mayor Lloyd Winnecke  for 2017 would increase the yearly deductible paid by its employees to as much as $10,000 per year, with an annual “out of pocket” total of $14,000 per year per family.
We were told when public safety officials balked at such an outrageous increase in the middle of a three year contract between the City and the Public Safety unions, the City then offered an alternative plan that would increase the employees monthly premiums from roughly $70 per month to $345 per month for family coverage. That plan would still have a hefty $8,000 out of pocket yearly expense to the employees on top of the additional $3,000 in premiums.
The Police Officers and Firefighters that contacted the CCO and expressed their outrage and vowed Mayor Winnecke and the City Council are in for a political fight. They also tell us that they feel betrayed after supporting the Mayor and many of the current City Council members in last Novembers election. They also feel they have been stabbed in the back by our elected officials in a time when public safety professionals need them most. We are told that many city employees with special needs children or severely ill spouses believe if passed this new plan could send some of them into bankruptcy.
We are told members of the police and fire unions are not only vowing to take legal action against the city but also are going to launch a spirited campaign against Mayor Winnecke and all those on the City Council that support the proposed employee Health Insurance plan for 2017.
The City County Observer predicted this would happen over a year ago! The continued mismanagement and wasteful spending practices by Mayor Winnecke, the current and past City Council members has finally come back to bite our elected officials in the rear.
FOOTNOTE: Â Â We encourage all our readers to call Mayor Winnecke and members of the Evansville City Council and express your outrage concerning the unreasonable increases to public safety officials and other city employees Health Insurance coverage for 2017.
The CCO will continue to monitor this situation and keep you updated as events unfold. Â We can’t wait to see how members of the main stream media are going to handle this issue.
Click Here To Open The 2017 proposed Insurance changes By The Winnecke Administration and City Council.
I personally thing that a cap should be placed on how much a doctor or hospital can charge people for a procedure. These costs are getting outrageous. Hosptials need to cut back on their charges as well. This won’t stop until they are made to control the costs of going to the doctor and getting medical attention.
And the Health Insurance companies also need to be brought under control.
There are no checks and balances on health care cost and the people are going to suffer both health wise and financially or both. This can’t continue to go on.
My elderly mother went to visit a specialist and this was the second time he had to see her. She only saw him for 15 minute and all he did was tell here the same thing he told her the last time. She has a stomach problem that needs an operation to correct. He charged her insurance $176 for the office visit. Now he is a great doctor but he is over charging people IMHO. And he’s typical of the doctors these days.
The City should NOT be paying health insurance costs for their part time workers and temporary board members that are also paid to attend board meetings. That’s crazy to pay someone’s health insurance when they only work for a hour at a time once a month for the city.. Talk about ripping the tax payers off. That’s basically what the party in charge of the city is doing now. And yet you fools living in the city keep re electing these people. That’s insane. No one attends these board meetings except maybe a new paper reporter for the most part. And they hold board meetings at 3 in the afternoon when most people are at work (day Shifts) and or still asleep (3rd Shifts).
“He charged her insurance $176 for the office visit. Now he is a great doctor but he is over charging people IMHO.”
I’m not ready to jump on board with what constitutes an ‘overcharge’ when it comes to physician’s services, honestly, because I can’t begin to determine what goes into figuring those bills. No doubt the insurance company has negotiated some type of discount, which means they might have been charged $176, but only paid $125. If you figure in office overhead, the doctor’s time (keep in mind that he/she spends at least a little bit of time before the actual patient visit with prep and records review, and post-visit with documentation, etc.), that might be perfectly reasonable.
I completely agree with much of your post, though. I work part-time in an local ER, and am constantly asked by patients how much a certain lab test, procedure, or diagnostic costs. I always have to tell them I don’t have any idea, which is really frustrating for both me and the patient. And it’s the truth. It’s not like there is a menu of prices which has things listed on it. I don’t seen any reason why there can’t be, with the understanding that your final price might be very different depending on your insurance (if any).
I hope your mom’s stomach problems get resolved!
Thanks DB. I hear what you are saying. It’s not easy being a Dr or a Nurse. I was married to a Nurse for many years and saw he dead tired after working three 12 hour shifts in a row. That should not be allowed IMHO. Well I’m older now and it would probably kill me to have to stay up for 12 hours in a row. 🙁 . I need my naps.
I suspect this is a worst-case scenario, being circulated to make a terrible insurance plan – just not this bad – seem okay to them. This would amount to a serious salary cut, and we will lose experienced first responders in droves if anything close to this is how it winds up.
I hope we don’t lose any good first responders. Those guys and gals live and breath their work. It’s in their blood. Some of them would volunteer to do that type of work for free if they didn’t need the money. They live for their work. But the costs need to be held down somehow. Maybe the city should look at a different insurance company that can give them a much better deal? Instead of cutting the employees benefits. And the city should stop paying for the part time board members health insurance. They don’t need to be paying their health insurance. They are not full time employees. Most private companies don’t pay the insurance of part time employees. So why would the tax payers. These so called city leaders need to stop and think… they work for the Citizens and tax payers not the other way around.
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