October 2015                                                                                        Editor - Barry Chalofsky
In This Issue
Contribute to PSMA PAC
Give Us Your Contact Info
Board of Directors & Staff
PSMA Update
Health Benefit Plan Changes
Retirements Climbing
Lost in Outcry over OMNIA
Retired Managers' Network
Board Meeting Notes
IBEW Organizes Y, V & W
October
  Member Discounts

We are committed to providing members with greater benefits and discounts.  Just look for the icon above on the PSMA website: 

 

TheComfortOutlet.com

Regal Cinema

United Artists

AMC Theaters

Edwards Theatres

 

Reminder:  We have discount tickets for Regal, United Artists, AMC and Edwards Theaters!!

CONTRIBUTE TO THE PSMA PAC  

money3

In order for an organization to be effective it has to have a well-funded Political Action Committee (PAC).  PSMA is prohibited by law from using dues to give donations to candidates and political parties.  All monies used for that purpose come from a separate PSMA PAC which gets its funding directly from voluntary contributions by members.  In the past the PSMA PAC made some very critical donations to legislators who ended up supporting us in our quest for union legislation. Therefore, we ask that you send a donation via check to the PSMA PAC at:

PSMA PAC
212 West State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608

You can also pay via credit card - just write to [email protected] and request that a PayPal Invoice be sent to you. 

If you have any questions please contact Executive Director Lisa Ginther at [email protected]
We Need Your Contact Info

In order to serve you better PSMA  is asking that you update your contact information with your personal e-mail address.  PSMA members can go to our website at www.psmanj.org and fill out the interactive form. 
PSMA Board of Directors & Staff 

Stan Cach, President (DEP)
Biff Lowry, 1st Vice President (DEP)
Tonya Coston, 2nd Vice President (DOE)
Fred Gmitter, Secretary (LPS)
Michael Simone (LPS)
Vince Mastrocola (DOE)
Phillip Freeman, Sr.(AG)
Alfred Laubsch, Jr.(DOL)
Paula Howard (DOH)
Jerry Calamia (DOL) 
Barry Chalofsky (Ret.)

Phil Frigero (Ret.) 


Lisa Ginther, Executive Director

Jerry Calamia, Financial Officer
Barry Chalofsky (Ret.), Webmaster/Newsletter Editor  (PSMA)
PSMA Website
 
 
Questions about PSMA:
[email protected]

IBEW Website

 www.ibewlocal30.org

Questions about IBEW Local30: 
PSMAlogo2
PSMA Update  
  
 
IBEW Local 30 is moving ahead with the proposal to create a Labor Council that includes PSMA, IBEW Local 30 and IBEW Local 33 (the Deputy Attorneys General).  IBEW Local 30 had its first of two readings of the by-laws of the Labor Council.  We are hopeful that the Council will be in place in early 2016. The Council will assume many of the significant costs of PSMA and will allow us to work more closely with all represented and unrepresented managers. The Council will bring many voices to one table and there is always strength in numbers. Both PSMA and the PSMA Retiree Network will be represented on the Council.  PSMA will vote on the proposal at its November 10, 2015  meeting. IBEW Local 30 and IBEW Local 33 votes will be taken during the winter meetings.

As you know, PSMA has been the voice for managers for well over 20 years. We delivered managers a union! This was not without the support of our members. Are we done fighting - Absolutely NOT! We will continue to fight for our members, but we need your help. Many felt they could sit on the sidelines and let the others fight for them. But, thankfully, for IBEW Local 30, a good number of great individuals stood up and fought together. We need your help by stepping up to continue this fight - This includes joining our Board of Directors. This is where we exchange ideas and information and strategize for our next mission - to expand collective bargaining rights to more managers.
 
We truly appreciate your support and your affiliation with PSMA as we continue to be the voice for all State managers. Please let Lisa Ginther, PSMA Executive Director, know if you have any questions, or if you're interested in joining our Board.  

We ask that you speak to other managers, especially managers that supervise other managers, to get them to join PSMA - please have them visit the  PSMA Website! 
 
Thank you for your support and loyalty to the only professional organization for NJ State Managers - formed by State Managers.
 
All the best,
  
Stanley V. Cach, President
Public Sector Managers' Association
www.PSMANJ.org
Health
State Health Benefit Plan Changes - Fall 2015 and January 2016

Premium Increases - on average rates will increase by 4.5% for state employees and 6.0% for local government workers though the actual premiums for family and employee/child coverage will increase more than single and employee/spouse/partner coverage.

Pilot Project - Direct Primary Care Medical Homes (voluntary) -- union members, early retirees, and family members in any non-HMO plan can join this new pilot program any time during the year. It features no copays for members and dependents and 24/7 access to a physician
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The patient load for doctors will be reduced from the typical level of 2500 patients per doctor to less than a 1000 per doctor allowing for much more regular interaction between patient and doctor, especially allowing doctors to provide more help to those with chronic conditions.

It is anticipated that these intensive primary care efforts will keep members healthier, improve the quality of healthcare, and produce significant savings by reducing the need for specialist referrals, ER visits, and hospital admissions.

The pilot will operate for three years with a goal of 60,000 members participating among south, central and northern pilots. The quality and cost of the pilot will be evaluated by an independent group with the option to expand the effort if it is successful.

Participation by members in the pilot is entirely voluntary and the member retains the ability to visit any specialist or facility while participating in the pilot. The pilot starts on April 1, 2016.

New Horizon & Aetna Tiered Network Options - this new option will be available starting on 1/1/16 to members who are seeking a lower premium plan. Members can choose this option during open enrollment-- no one will be compelled to join.

The Tiered (aka Narrow or Limited) Network plan will have two tiers of coverage - a smaller tier 1 network for full coverage and a tier 2 network that includes all current NJ Direct providers but with much higher copays, co-insurance (20% by member), deductibles ($1500), and maximum out of pockets ($4500) than in Tier 1.

Like an HMO, the tiered network plan will have no out of network coverage. However, any participant that goes to a Tier 1 hospital or facility is guaranteed no balanced billing from an out of network doctor working at the in-network hospital or facility.

This plan will cost 25% less than NJ Direct 15, and is a better alternative to a High Deductible plan; however participants must be careful to be sure that their physician and necessary services are in the tier one network. The Tier One network will include 12 hospital systems with over thirty locations; located only in New Jersey.
This plan will not be for everyone. The Tiered Network option will feature sharply reduced (25%) member premiums -- without cost shifting to members, if you're careful and use Tier One providers.

Hepatitis C Drugs - effective October 1, 2015 the State is using a Step Therapy approach for the newest, very effective and very expensive Hepatitis C drugs. The drug for which Express Scripts negotiated significant cost reductions, Viekira Pak, will be the first choice for treatment. If it doesn't work, has side effects that are not tolerated, or there is a medical reason to use another drug, members can go on to another of the new medications.

Members in a course of treatment with one of the other drugs prior to implementation of the new step therapy program will continue with that course of treatment.

Since a course of the new Hepatitis C treatment costs around $80,000 to $90,000 and Express Scripts appears to be able to reduce these costs by nearly a third with step therapy, this was a smart move.

Limiting Compound Drugs - compound drug costs have increased over 1000% over the last three years. Very few of these compound drug treatments have been tested for effectiveness or safety. The use of these topical compound drugs will be significantly restricted. Compound drugs will still be available for those who cannot take an FDA approved drug by the normal means of delivery, are allergic to an ingredient, or whose medical conditions prohibits the use of the prescribed (non-compound) drug. The new rules will be implemented sometime in the Fall 2015. This change alone kept premiums about 2% lower than they would have been otherwise.

ER Copays - Emergency Room copays will go up $25 effective 1/1/16 for all plans; however, the increased copay is waived for all patients under the age of 19, for any patient referred to the ER by a physician, and for any patient admitted to the hospital within 24 hours.

Chiropractic and Acupuncture Payments -In-network reimbursement for these two services will be increased to attract more in-network providers. Out of network reimbursement for these providers will be limited to 75% of the in-network reimbursement effective 1/1/16.
Public Worker Retirements Climbing With NJ Pension Talks

By Samantha Marcus/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com/October 04, 2015

TRENTON - Nearly 10 percent more government workers retired in the first seven months of the year than in the same period last year, a rise some labor leaders say is a response to Gov. Chris Christie's overtures toward cutting benefits.

More than 13,000 public employees retired through July, compared with fewer than 12,000 in 2014, and the increase was concentrated among state workers and public safety employees, state data shows.

"Every time this governor opens his mouth and comes out with a new report or threatens a new report... he scares our guys right to the retirement line," said Ed Donnelly, president of the New Jersey State Firefighters' Mutual Benevolent Association.

In February, Christie threw his support behind a sweeping set of recommendations for government workers' health and retirement benefits. The Republican governor, who was gearing up for his then all-but-certain presidential campaign, said the state's exploding worker benefits costs compelled him to take benefits on for a second time.

Six months later, Christie's "roadmap" hasn't taken off. But it wasn't completely without consequence, New Jersey labor leaders say. Christie's efforts to save the state billions by cutting benefits sowed fear among state employees and sent some rushing to retire sooner than they'd otherwise planned, they said.

"I can speak for the cops. The cops are nervous," said Patrick Colligan, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association. "And the guys who have put in their time are afraid that something else is coming down the road."

The data has closely tracked their speculated link between Christie's heightened rhetoric and the retirement rush.

Workers bracing for the first wave of benefits reforms after Christie took office in 2010 left in droves. While about 12,700 people retired in 2009, more than 20,000 clocked out in 2010. The next year, when the Legislature adopted changes that raised the retirement age, required workers to contribute more for their benefits and froze cost-of-living increases, 19,500 workers left.

"We never had legislation that affected us in our wallets like 2011 did," Colligan said. "Many people went from paying nothing to paying in excess of $1,300, $1,500 a month for health care."

The numbers settled between 15,000 and 16,000 in 2012 and 2013 but began to rise again last year, coinciding with the governor's calls for more reforms in his January 2014 State of the State, where he declared "We need to have the conversation now about further changes to our pension system..."

He followed up that announcement by designating a high-powered commission to offer solutions.

This February, that panel proposed shifting workers to a hybrid defined-benefit, defined-contribution pension system and offering less generous health care plans. That plan, it said, would shave billions off the state's rising annual required contribution.

Unlike the first tranche of reforms, the commission's new recommendations would affect existing employees, striking nerves.

"The fear is that he'll legislate something that will affect people while they're still here," Colligan said. "That's why people have their fingers on the retirement button, people who are eligible but not ready to go."

A spokesman for the Department of Treasury did not respond to a request for comment.

Through the first seven months of this year, the number of workers who have retired or notified the state of their plans to retire is up 9.6 percent from the same period in 2014. If retirements continue at that pace, which is uncertain, nearly 19,500 workers could exit - a level on par with 2011.

To Donnelly, the data merely affirms what he already knew: "If you (compare) the number of retirements to where we were legislatively or politically, those numbers rise and fall based on the stability of pensions and benefits."

"I can't tell you how many calls I get a day - 'What should I do? I hear there's a new report coming out. Should I leave?"' he said.

Tom Bruno, chairman of the Public Employees Retirement System, agreed that pension rhetoric is nudging some workers out the door, but demographics may be playing into the growing numbers of retirees.

According to the the Pew Research Center, 10,000 baby boomers - those born between 1946-1964 - are turning 65 and retiring each day.

The number of school employees who retired through July, 4,299, is actually 77 fewer than the same period last year. Teacher retirements spiked along with everyone else in 2011, but the average age of retirees has increased by almost a year, said Steve Baker, spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association.

The average age was 61 in 2009 and 61.9 in in 2014, Baker said, adding "in actuarial terms, that is pretty significant growth."

"Unequivocally we have members that are very concerned about the pension system," he said. "But I think they understand the system well enough that retiring... doesn't really change the concerns that they have there." 
Health
Lost in the Outcry Over OMNIA: Tiered Insurance Plans Should Mean Savings

Andrew Kitchenman/NJ Spotlight/October 2, 2015

The tiered coverage just introduced by the state's biggest insurer has raised an outcry of concerns and questions -- from hospitals, healthcare providers, and even potential patients. Ironically, the OMNIA Health Alliance from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey is being posited as an answer to the most important question of all: How much can insurance costs be cut in New Jersey?

The simple answer: a lot.

More precisely, a tiered plan will save roughly 23 percent on monthly premiums for public workers and their families who are members of the State Health Benefits Program. That is in addition to as much as $2,980 in annual out-of-pocket cost savings. The secret to the savings offered by the tiered plans is that people pay less if they receive healthcare from a select group of doctors and hospitals.

Horizon hasn't announced the details of the OMNIA plans that it will offer to those who are insured through private-sector employers or the federally operated insurance marketplace. (New Jersey public employees could opt for tiered coverage starting yesterday.)

The fact that tiered plans offer significant savings has been so far lost in the debate over OMNIA. Most of the focus has been on complaints by hospitals left out of Horizon's Tier 1.

Legislators and local politicians have questioned the transparency of the process used to set up the tiered plans. In response, Horizon officials have said that they will go further on Monday to detail how they designed the plans than any New Jersey insurer ever has.

In addition, public workers who were concerned that their local or preferred hospitals were left out of Horizon's top tier were given another option yesterday, when Aetna made available its own Tier 1 for those in the State Health Benefits Program. It includes many hospitals that Horizon passed over, including the Virtua system in South Jersey; Trenton's two hospitals, Capital Health and St. Francis Medical Center; and two Hudson County hospitals, Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center and Palisades Medical Center.

The OMNIA Health Alliance is a partnership between Horizon and six hospital systems, thousands of doctors affiliated with those hospitals, and Summit Medical Group, the state's largest doctor-owned medical practice. These providers have agreed to shift some of their payments away from the volume of services they deliver and toward the "value" they deliver, as determined by various performance measurements. They also have agreed to be paid less per patient in return for a promise of receiving more Horizon referrals. Horizon will also share with providers all of their patients' medical claims, which will give them a more complete picture of patient health and potentially improve treatment.

Horizon's Tier 1 includes other hospitals, such as the Meridian Health system and Cooper University Health Care, in order to cover more of the state geographically.

Dudley Burdge, a senior staff representative for Communications Workers of America Local 1032, said the union believes that the tiered plans will be attractive to some workers.

"This is something we supported in concept," he said. "It's a way of getting a lower-cost option for folks, and obviously I would think it's a much better alternative than a high-deductible plan, which just shifts the costs to our members."

When Horizon makes its commercial OMNIA plans available as soon as next week, businesses are likely to be interested, according to Desmond Slattery, an insurance broker and the legislative committee chairman for the New Jersey Association of Health Underwriters.

"The biggest thing is that this is an option," Slattery said, noting that employers generally prefer to give their workers a choice of plans.
Retirement
PSMA Retirees' Network Update 
 
The State has announced changes to the Retiree Prescription Co-Pays beginning January 1, 2016.  For the latest co-pay schedule please CLICK HERE.

The Retiree Network has established a Coordinating Committee to increase membership recruitment and plan activities.  At our latest meeting we appointed the following members to the Coordinating Committee:

Barry Chalofsky
Phil Frigero
Ed Frankel
Janice DiGiuseppe
Jeff Reading

Additional members are welcome to join us!  If you are interested in serving on the Coordinating Committee please send an email to Barry Chalofsky at [email protected].

PSMA Retirees' Network membership continues to grow and is now over 40 members!  We added 4 new members in September. We need each member to get at least one new member to join.  Don't think that because you are retired you are not affected by what's going on in Trenton.  Our pensions and health benefits are on the line, and we need support from PSMA and IBEW Local 30 to fight for our rights.  The Retiree Network is the only organization that can bring you that support - so help us grow our membership! 

If you know of a retired manager (or non-manager), please have him or her go to
http://www.psmanj.org/extras/RetiredManagers.pdf for more information.
PSMA Board Meeting Notes  PSMAlogo2
   
The Board met on October 6, 2015 and discussed PSMA membership recruitment efforts, status of the Labor Council, IBEW Local 30 update, PSMA financial status, and actions by the Legislature.  The next meeting will be on November 10, 2015.
IBEW
IBEW Seeks to Organize Y, V and W Managers      
Managers in Y, V, and W titles interested in learning how to organize with IBEW, please contact Joe Mastrogiovanni, Jr., IBEW Lead Organizer, at [email protected].