NEW: GM is cutting off striking workers' health care coverage effective today. The UAW will now...

[demmiblue]

NEW: GM is cutting off striking workers' health care coverage effective today. The UAW will now pick up the bill for their members' continued healthcare through COBRA. This development shows just how costly this strike will be to both sides.

Link to tweet

[safeinOhio]

1. Thats why there are Union Dues.

For strike funds.

[MontanaMama]

2. COBRA is very expensive.

Wonder how long the union can withstand this?

[fescuerescue]

19. Cobra actually is a pretty good deal

It's the exact same cost +2% that the company pays. The 2% is supposed to cover the extra administrative cost of billing individuals

So there isn't any extra gouging (beyond that which all insurance companies do)

The best part of Cobra however, is that you can buy it retroactively. It's the only insurance that you can actually buy AFTER you have an incident (you have 60 days to decide)

I've used it several times when switching jobs to bridge the gap. In each case I only bought if I actually incurred medical costs above the premium cost.

Once one of my kids had an ER visit, so went ahead and purchased it the week after and the coverage was retroactive. Was a pretty easy decision (Pay $20,000 to the hospital or $900 to Cobra)

But to your point. It *IS* expensive, but that's only because healthcare is so expensive in this country.

[pnwmom]

23. We had COBRA for a while, a long time ago. It was $900 a month just for me.

I had a pre-existing condition, a pregnancy, so I had to go on COBRA while my husband went on his new company's plan.

I don't think that was a bargain for a woman in her twenties.

[fescuerescue]

24. Not cheap - but a good deal (comparatively)

Big difference.

That $900 was what your employer paid each month (-2%). That's alot of money I think anyone would agree.

But where it's a good deal is that it's much less than what it would cost you to buy insurance alone as a party of 1 (or 4). You essentially get big employer pricing as an individual.

If you were to buy it on your own, it would have probably cost $2 to $3k at that time, and the pre-existing completely un-insurable.

[pnwmom]

25. But COBRA is no longer such a good deal. After the ACA was passed, premiums were based solely

on age.

A few years ago my son, who didn't qualify for a subsidy, looked at policies both on and off the exchange, and got an excellent one (equivalent to a "gold" plan on the exchange) for $425 per month.

And he was the same age I'd been decades earlier when I had to pay $900 a month for COBRA.

[fescuerescue]

26. I wouldn't challenge that

since I haven't priced COBRA or dug into it deeply since ACA.

I'm guessing there might still be corner cases where Employers coverage (converted to COBRA) is superior in benefits to ACA, but usually COBRA is purchased by folks who are in a pinch due to employment changes and where "Gold Plated" benefits aren't something you want (or can) budget for.

[still_one]

27. COBRA was never a "good deal", it was always expensive. It should have been revamped

decades ago

If someone loses their job, some companies will subsidize or even pay for the cobra premiums as part of the benefit package up to the 18 months that COBRA lastlts

For companies that don’t, a significant number take their chances without it

They just lost their job. Gee, let me choose between Rent and COBRA

I have been on COBRA for a short time when the company I worked for closed down

I had the means so it wasn’t an issue for me, but a hell of a lot more do not, and if they have a family cover it is even worse

Anyone trying to suggest that COBRA is such a good deal I suspect has never been on it, or has the means to afford the premiums

During the lay-off I went through I saw firsthand over 50% could not afford the premiums

[pnwmom]

28. You're right -- it was only a good deal compared to the NOTHING that would have been available

to me as a pregnant woman trying to get health insurance.

It was only a good deal compared to the hospital bills that I ended up with when complications landed me in the hospital for a couple weeks -- 90% of which were paid for by my COBRA insurance.

And, yes, we were lucky that we had enough savings to afford to pay COBRA for six months. I know most people don't. Nobody should go on it without comparing it to policies available on the exchange.

[still_one]

29. Thank, you are absolutely righ, and in many cases blue color workers are the least able to afford it

[Bengus81]

41. Used to be a ridiculous RIP OFF price wise........

My wife switched jobs and had to carry her own health insurance for a sixty day probation back in the early 80's. That CRAP was $900 per month then for two people,no children and both of us still in our twenties. Like I said this was about 37 YEARS ago.

We were both in very good health and told em to shove it and did without for 60 days. In 2019 $$$ that equals $4810.84

[TeamPooka]

33. Nothing like having your healthcare named after a deadly thing that can bite you in the ass.

[Freethinker65]

3. This is why health insurance should NOT be tied to employment.

Businesses will use the threat of losing health insurance to take everything else gained away from workers and unions. This will hurt non-Union workers as well as benefits will decline for everyone but the top.

We need Medicare for all, or at least a Medicare BuyIn as a option.

[shanti]

8. YES ON THIS!!

It can't be stressed strong enough! Employment-backed health coverage benefits the employer much more, not the worker. It's something they can mess with to keep the workers in line. They know this, and one reason why they are fighting Medicare for All, etc. so hard.

[MichMan]

10. The UAW will not agree to be covered under MFA

They will insist on keeping their private insurance even after MFA is enacted

[Freethinker65]

11. MFA that Want It. If the UAW can negotiate something better in their contract, fine.

The UAW might be better off with MFA and other perks like profit sharing, time off, increased pay, product discounts, flex spending account subsidies, education and/or housing/mortgage benefits, etc.
Healthcare would be off the negotiating table and could no longer be used by the auto companies as a sledge hammer threat during tense negotiations towards a contract.

[mysteryowl]

12. Exactly!

[geardaddy]

17. You hit the nail on the head. N/t

[BigmanPigman]

4. I couldn't believe that they still earn money while striking.

When the teachers went on strike we didn't get pay but they never threatened our health care either.

[marybourg]

6. Money they paid into a strike fund for just such an event.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. The company isn't paying them. The union has a strike fund.

[beachbumbob]

9. there is a small strike fund and it will quickly be exhausted. UAW is always willing to sacrifice

their members. Review what happened with UAW and all the strikes with Caterpillar.. The union was broken, workers got the shaft and have zero power and LUCKY to make $15/hr

[BigmanPigman]

34. Interesting.

[BigmanPigman]

37. I remember my grandmother

telling me that my grandfather's union had a lot of gangsters involved in it. I think this was around the time of Jimmy Hoffa. They certainly did have a dark side and caused harm back then. My union wasn't like that, maybe because we were teachers. If anyone keyed someone's car it most likely would have been a bored or irate student.

[BigmanPigman]

39. I wish he could make tRump disappear!

[demmiblue]

5. Freep article:

Sources: GM offers 2% raises to UAW; company ends strikers' health care

General Motors stopped paying for health care coverage for striking workers Tuesday, the company confirmed.

That means striking GM union workers are eligible for union-paid COBRA to continue their health care benefits.

"We understand strikes are difficult and disruptive to families," GM said in a statement. "While on strike, some benefits shift to being funded by the union’s strike fund, and in this case hourly employees are eligible for union-paid COBRA so their health care benefits can continue."

The latest development added to tension as GM and the UAW returned to the bargaining table Tuesday morning. The two sides negotiated until around 9 p.m. Monday, sources said.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2019/09/17/gm-strike-update-uaw/2350586001/

[yaesu]

13. the union has built up quite a big strike fund so they are prepared for corporate tricks. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

14. Oh, yes. Only in America!

Why this is such a great nation, right?

Just a bit of sarcasm there.

[fescuerescue]

15. Pretty standard

It's why the union contract has provisions for strike pay and Cobra pay.

I grew in a GM family saw my parents go through many times in the 70's and 80s

[wallyworld2]

16. What a bunch of crap

They way I thought it worked is, your LAST MONTH earnings pay for the NEXT MONTHS coverage.

You don't get health insurance coverage on the first day of employment.

You get coverage the following month after paying into the medical plan for a month.

I can see them losing the NEXT months coverage after not paying into their provider.

But they should have paid it in full for this month from their August earnings

This is crap.

[fescuerescue]

20. Depends on the company

In this case it's what the union negotiated during the LAST contract.

I've had jobs where it took 60 days to start insurance and it ended the day my employment terminated, and another where I was covered on day #1 and had insurance till the end of my last month.

But yes it is crap, but it's something that was (poorly) negotiated years ago

[lunatica]

21. ?????

is your cat walking on your keyboard again?

[Evolve Dammit]

22. GM knows how close to the bone most workers are and the huge costs of med care.

And they will do whatever it takes to get the obedient workers back in line. Go UAW!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

30. and GM knows because they worked so hard to put workers "close to the bone"

Big corporations have spent decades buying regulations to erode the power of workers, in general, and unions in particular.

[Evolve Dammit]

31. Have you seen the movie "The Corporation"? Won 32 international awards. Very good.

[brooklynite]

35. Not unexpected...

When you're on strike, you're not getting paid, and the employer contribution to health insurance is part of the compensation package. The Union knew this when they started.