CSUEU: Chapter 312, Northridge

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{ Executive Board Update }

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2014 Budget

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In-Range Progression (IRP)

• IRP workshop powerpoint
• Suggestion for the IRP Cover Memo
• Action Verbs to use in describing your skills
• List of verbs describing tasks
• IRP request form

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Bargaining next contract -- dates and locations

Please click the date for bargaining update

• February 18-20 Office of the Chancellor
• March 4-6 CSU Sacramento
• March 11-13 Office of the Chancellor
• April 2-4 CSU East Bay
• April 15-17 Office of the Chancellor
• May 6-8 CSU San Jose
• June 10-12 CSU Dominguez Hills
• June 23-25 Office of the Chancellor

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Know Your Contract: Your Health Insurance Rates

Does the CSUEU bargaining team negotiate your health insurance rates? No, and it never has.

CalPERS, which by design has board members representing labor either through active state and local agencies or as all-member representatives, serves as our agent in decisions made with insurance companies to set each year's rates.

The role of CalPERS as administrator of employee health benefits is outlined in the CSUEU/CSU contract. According to Article 21.4 of the contract (italics are added for emphasis):

Eligible employees and eligible family members as defined by CalPERS shall continue to receive health benefits offered through the CalPERS system for the life of this Agreement. Payment for those benefits shall be based on rates established by CalPERS for participating members.

Early each year, CalPERS works with each carrier to analyze previous, confidential claims data, ultimately mutually agreeing on separate plan rates for the upcoming plan year that are deemed reasonable based on that data. This analysis involves CalPERS and actuaries sifting through mountains of proprietary information that would be inappropriate for any other parties, including labor unions and employer groups, to access.

The union does everything possible to forewarn represented employees when we learn that rates may rise, as was the case before and during the open enrollment period last fall, when it became clear that Kaiser would be raising its rates while other plans would be lowering theirs.

It bears noting that a special circumstance contributed to this year's rate hikes at Kaiser and some of the other plans.

This is the inaugural year for CalPERS to annually implement what is known as "risk adjustment" across all plans. In broad terms, this practice adjusts rates to ensure that plans that bear the most risk (that is, they have more unhealthy members enrolled) are not penalized, while plans that bear the least risk are not rewarded just because they end up with a lot of healthy and young members. The first baseline year of this practice typically leads to sharper rate changes, which are not expected in subsequent years.

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Bargaining 101; Red Cross Disaster Supplies Calendar