Teachers hail vote on health coverage
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
The Senate yesterday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would let public worker union trusts continue to operate health plans.
The teachers union, which lobbied heavily for the measure, claimed victory but Hawai'i State Teachers Association president Karen Ginoza said, "It is still not over."
Gov. Ben Cayetano says he will veto the measure, which is a partial reversal of health-reform legislation that the Senate passed last year. Also the bill does not appear to have a good chance at passage by the House.
Act 88, which the Legislature passed last year, had abandoned the process of having the union's trusts run their own healthcare plans.
Senate Bill 2961 appears to have serious problems in the House.
"Basically we look at this motion as being way too premature and two steps backward ... ," said House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-40th (Wahiawa, Whitmore). "This is anti-reform. I wouldn't bet anything on it (passing the House)."
The HSTA — which is preparing endorsements for this year's election — is keeping track of lawmakers' positions on the measure, which Ginoza said is part of the union's "blueprint" for education.
"This is an important issue for our teachers in terms of making sure that we have health benefits that will entice them to come to our state to teach," Ginoza said. "This is all part of a recruitment and retention package that we must have in order to be competitive with the rest of the nation."
The law that passed last year folded the public employee union health plans into a single "Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund." Supporters of the law said it would save the state money and pointed to a 1999 report by the state auditor that said if the state continued the old system, health premiums would cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion a year by 2013.
The union-sponsored plans covered younger public employees who generally cost less to insure, leaving the state health fund to cover retirees who generally require more medical care.
Yesterday senators approved the bill 16-6 after hours of procedural debates and discussions. The Senate must take a final vote on it tomorrow before the measure can be sent to the House.
Supporters said that the union trust plans offer better benefits than the state's and that it would not increase the state's contributions for employee health benefits.
Opponents said it does not ensure that retirees will be taken care of and doesn't address the millions of dollars in rebates from health insurers to union trusts.
Senate Education Chairman Norman Sakamoto will hold an informational briefing on the bill at 4 p.m. today in Room 229, in response to criticism that the measure never received public input.
Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
