FAMCO presented its healthcare platform to the administration in their first bargaining session last week. The administration’s first offer was waaaaay off the mark. Any increase in health benefits cost to any worker is unacceptable, particularly with inflation raging and COVID effects lingering all around. Overall, it seems like Monmouth University administration is using this as an opportunity to rewrite the university’s health benefits system and hope people won’t notice or care that they are worse offers. The table below outlines the offer:
| FAMCO Healthcare Platform | Administration’s Healthcare Proposal |
| Plan Choice for All | Plan choice in name only: – Eliminates access to our current traditional PPO plan (“the Direct Access Plan”) – Replaces the current high deductible plan (“the EPO plan”) with a ‘choice’ between two new plans of lesser value – Both new plans have deductibles ranging from $500 to $3,000 |
| Out-of-Network (OON) Benefits for All | ‘OON benefits for all’ in name only: The high deductibles for out of network benefits in the proposed plans are too expensive to make seeking an out of network provider realistic. OON deductibles range from $1000 to $6000 and only apply after the in-network deductibles are already met. |
| Lower Premiums for All | Monthly premium costs increased for all, MORE so for faculty currently enrolled in the “EPO plan”: – In 2023, the monthly premiums for faculty enrolled in the Direct Access family plan would increase as much as 8%. For people on the EPO plan, monthly premiums would increase 23% and family coverage would increase 33%. – By 2024, the rate structure would have faculty contributing anywhere from 15-35% of the premiums depending on how many people their plan is covering. |
| Oversight and Transparency for Healthcare | Closes the key oversight and transparency channel Eliminates the established FAMCO-administration Labor Management Committee (LMC) and, functionally, removes the ability to engage in regular formal discussions and information sharing between FAMCO (as the legal representative for healthcare bargaining for faculty) and the administration. Limits such meetings to a university-controlled healthcare “working group.” |
| Control Over Escalating Costs | Exacerbates escalating costs Proposed costs escalate. Proposed costs would no longer be fixed each year, but tied to fluctuating claims costs that would make employee healthcare costs unpredictable (making budgeting unpredictable). |
In all, faculty will pay more for these proposed benefits, both in higher deductibles and higher contribution costs, and the fixed deductibles compound the problems the less you are paid.
Deductibles, in general, discourage people from seeking care, meaning people will not get things diagnosed, miss detecting problems early, or recover slower from problems needing monitoring and evolving care. This could be one way the administration hopes to keep costs down in the long run. However, delaying taking care of things like this makes them, in addition to more damaging, more expensive, both to faculty and, ultimately, the University as the health insurance provider. Specialist care, which is often out-of-network, will still be inaccessible due to the deductible structure, as well.
The message from the administration is loud and clear and, frankly, it’s not good. FAMCO is looking to build a roster of faculty from across the whole university to observe these bargaining sessions until they conclude. If you are interested in observing bargaining sessions, contact FAMCO at mu.famco@gmail.com.
The Faculty Association of Monmouth University 
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