What a nice juxtaposition: while we learn that Budget could shift costs of employee health care
we are immediately comforted by the assertion that Participation in health program might pay off for employees (The Post on April 9). It almost seems as if the expected increase in health care costs is easily compensated by a monetary incentive program. Though such a program would be nice and might even have long-term benefits, it is nowhere close to reality, or as HR director Greg Fialko put it: I don't know when it will happen or even if it will happen. In any case, due to its lack of relevance and reality, this article is a mere feel-good PR piece, timely placed yet without any actual consequences whatsoever. (The article also erroneously states the number of OU employees at 38,000, instead of the actual total of 3,935 at the Athens Campus, see www.ohiou.edu/instres/faculty/staffstats/index.html).
The article about the new budget plan and the health care cost increase, on the other hand, depicts the grim reality, but it fails to mention the actual impact on OU faculty: the loudly touted 3 percent salary increase just compensates for the inflation rate and will not even be awarded evenly to all faculty members, so that some will fall behind and some will stay slightly ahead of the cost of living. At the same time, health care costs are projected to rise by 2 to 3 percent, which effectively translates into an annual (not just one-time!) salary decrease. Therefore, it is plainly wrong and misleading when The Post editorial on page two claims that the faculty raises ... should offset the increase in health care costs.
In preparing cuts of health care benefits, OU administrators have been emphasizing throughout the past months that OU employees get much more generous health benefits than those at other universities. The Post adopts this talking point and refers to a purported national average of 30 percent for the employees' share of health care costs. Contrary to this, the OSU Office of Human Resources and Managed Health Care Systems estimate both the national and the Columbus-area average at 20 percent (see www.yourplanforhealth.com/plan.html). It is also interesting to know that the employees' share at OSU is at 15 percent, while OU employees will look at a 18 to 19 percent share despite below-average salaries and often suboptimal local health care service in terms of both quality and availability.
Bernhard Debatin is a faculty senator, associate professor and director of tutorial studies in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. 17
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