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Political Scene: State workers to dig deeper into pockets for health coverage
12:13 AM EDT on Monday, June 4, 2007
As the new fiscal year begins July 1, state employees of all stripes will get raises and will also start paying more for their health insurance.
Every union contract the administration has settled calls for a 3-percent pay increase this July 1, said Governor Carcieri’s spokesman, Jeffrey Neal. (Two contracts remain unsettled: with the 1,500-employee union representing correctional officers at the state prison, and with the State Employee Physician Association, a union Neal estimated has 40 to 50 members.)
So-called “unclassified” — that is, nonunion — employees will also get 3-percent raises, Neal said. “It has been the practice of the Carcieri administration to grant the same pay increase to the nonunion workforce,” he said.
State employees contribute to the cost of their health insurance using two formulas. About 7,500 pay a percentage of their pay; about 3,700 pay a percentage of the premium cost. So do the 2,900 nonunion state employees, a group that includes 290 people on the legislative payroll — among them legislative support staff and employees of the auditor general’s office — as well as heads of state departments and agencies, and other management and at-will employees.
On July 1, the worker’s share of the premium cost will rise. For union workers, this was spelled out in the contract; for nonunion workers, a notice went out to each agency’s human resources department three weeks ago, and the agencies are in the process of notifying affected employees.
Workers who earn more than $75,000 a year will now pay 15 percent of their premium cost, up from 11 percent. Factoring in the increase in the price of the plan, that means each worker will pay $871 a year for individual health, dental and vision coverage, and $2,435 a year for family coverage. Because the premium also increased, that’s an increase of $741 in what an employee in this income bracket will pay for a family plan this year.
Workers who earn less than $75,000 a year will go from paying 9 percent of their premium to 12 percent. The state also has a separate category for workers making less than $35,000, for family plans only. Those workers currently pay 6 percent, and will pay 8 percent — or $1,299 a year — starting July 1.
Across all categories of state employees, roughly one-fourth have individual plans and three-fourths have family plans, said Susan Rodriguez, deputy state personnel administrator for benefits.
The 113-member General Assembly is one of the few groups getting state-paid health insurance without any requirement that they contribute to the cost. That isn’t expected to change anytime soon, although a vocal minority say they’ll keep trying: Sen. Paul W. Fogarty, D-Glocester, and Rep. Amy G. Rice, D-Portsmouth, have sponsored bills to require lawmakers to contribute, and Rep. John J. Loughlin II, R-Tiverton, is ready to sponsor a floor amendment during budget debate, to require lawmakers to contribute, if Rice doesn’t do so first. While Rice has “the right of first refusal,” Loughlin said Friday, “I will draft an amendment and have it ready.”
In the meantime, several lawmakers have volunteered to pay the state back for part of the cost; others have announced plans to give an equivalent amount to another entity.
Rep. Richard W. Singleton, R-Cumberland, is the latest on that list. Singleton said he donated 10 percent of the price of his family plan — roughly $1,500 — to the Cumberland High School debate team, to help the team reach its fundraising goal for a trip to a national competition in Texas.
Singleton says he plans to give his 10 percent each year to “a worthy group in Cumberland that needs some money.”
“Next year, it will be a different organization,” he said. “I have no idea who. I’ll do a little research and find somebody to give it to.”
More than six months after Guillaume de Ramel lost his bid for secretary of state, the Federal Election Commission has cleared him of wrongdoing in his Democratic primary battle against the ultimate winner, Ralph A. Mollis.
Can’t remember which FEC complaint we’re talking about? Yes, there were several filed by various candidates in the weeks leading up to the election.
This one involved a $1,000 check that de Ramel, a registered Democrat, wrote to “Bush Cheney ’O4” on Aug. 23, 2003. De Ramel had said the contribution was on behalf of his wife, Molly, who was a reporter for the Fox News Channel from 1997 until 2003.
But federal election law states that “No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution.”
While the revelation that anyone in the de Ramel household contributed to a Republican presidential candidate may have been damaging enough, Mollis filed a complaint with the FEC in August alleging that de Ramel broke the law.
Late last week, de Ramel learned that the matter had been dismissed.
“Based on the information contained in the complaint and information provided by you, the commission decided to dismiss the complaint and closed its file in the matter,” reads the letter dated May 25, from FEC General Counsel Thomasenia P. Duncan.
“As we said from the beginning, the filing of this complaint as a campaign stunt was wrong as it was totally frivolous and meritless, and by dismissing it outright the Federal Election Commission said just that,” said former de Ramel campaign manager Tony Marcella. “This complaint was not only a waste of the federal elections commission’s valuable time, but also a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
Mollis told Political Scene that he has moved on.
“The FEC has determined that Mr. de Ramel’s contribution to President Bush’s reelection was not a straw donation. I respect that decision,” he said. “The primary campaign is long behind me now. My focus is on the duties of secretary of state and how we can make a difference for Rhode Islanders.”
And Marcella said that de Ramel was moving on, too.
Marcella reports that he has been traveling the state with de Ramel, who is “back on the trail again.”
“He is still interested in running for office again, keeping his options open for 2010,” Marcella said.
Come to Lincoln tonight if you want to air your views on election laws.
Secretary of State Mollis’ Voters First Advisory Commision will hold the first of five public hearings this evening on how the state might change election laws to make it easier and more convenient for people to vote and to better ensure the integrity of the state’s voter rolls and protect against voting fraud.
At a news conference unveiling the initiative in April, Mollis announced several ideas as a starting point for the commission’s work. Those ideas included requiring photo identification at the polls, allowing people to vote over a period of several days instead of just one day, and requiring additional documentation and proof of residency when registering to vote.
Tonight’s hearing takes place from 6:30 to 8:30 in Room 2706 at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Flanagan Campus, at 1762 Louisquisset Pike in Lincoln.
The commission has also scheduled hearings for June 18 at the Elmwood Community Center, in Providence; July 9 at Middletown Town Hall; July 23 at the University of Rhode Island; and Aug. 8 at the Warwick Public Library.
Mollis has also created a dedicated e-mail address — votersfirst@sec.state.ri.u.s. — to receive suggestions and other messages about the initiative.
It was hard enough getting the governor, the General Assembly and the state’s major insurers to agree on the framework for a low-cost health-insurance plan for small businesses.
When the plan passed the Assembly last year, its backers breathed a sigh of relief, figuring the hard part was done. They didn’t realize the bigger challenge might be figuring out what to name it.
The plan that passed was an amalgam of ideas from lawmakers and Governor Carcieri. Carcieri had coined the name Select Care for the plan. Lawmakers suggested calling it WellCare, and that was how the plan came to be known — until the office of the health insurance commissioner got a notice that a company had that name under trademark protection, and the state would get sued unless it stopped using the name.
In the absence of a better option, those involved began referring to the plan using the technical name in the enabling legislation: “wellness health benefit plan,” not exactly a catchy moniker.
But the commissioner’s office sponsored a naming contest, soliciting suggestions from the small businesses that might enroll in the new plan, which goes on sale Oct. 1. The office announced the contest-winning name last week.
Drumroll please…
The plan will be called HealthPact RI.
The name reflects the plan’s emphasis on bringing down cost by asking subscribers to agree to healthy lifestyles and focus on prevention. In other words, the plan is a pact between subscriber and insurer, said Matthew Stark, principal policy associate in the commissioner’s office. To get low deductibles, subscribers must sign up with a primary-care physician, complete an assessment to identify health risks; pledge to participate in disease management programs if applicable; and pledge to remain smoke-free and maintain a healthful weight, or enroll in weight-management and stop-smoking programs if necessary.
“Jury duty” is a thing of the past in Rhode Island. Officially over. Out of date. So 2006.
From now on, it’s “jury service.”
State Jury Commissioner Eugene J. McMahon announced last week that he has instructed staff to “discontinue the use of the words ‘jury duty’” when summoning prospective jurors for a case.
McMahon has asked judges and court employees “to use the same words when speaking of the process,” according to the announcement.
“The phrase ‘to serve’ has a more specific connotation as it relates to jury service,” McMahon said in the statement. “It is an aid, a help, which is the function jurors are asked to do — aid and help in the function of our unique jury system.
“After over 14 years of involvement with the jury system, I have found the overwhelming majority of citizens who have served as jurors have found it to be a pleasurable experience,” McMahon said.
The new word gets the good word from Superior Court Presiding Justice Joseph F. Rodgers Jr., who reviewed more than 30,000 evaluations “submitted by people who have served” — there’s that word again — “and that most give favorable responses.”
Providence and Kent county jurors are summoned for up to two days or one trial at a time. If selected for trial, jurors serve until it ends and then are dismissed. Jury trials average three to five days, according to the release. If jurors have not been chosen for a trial after two days, they are dismissed. In Newport and Washington counties, jurors are summoned for one day or one trial. They are dismissed on the first day “if not selected to serve for a trial” — that’s another “serve,” if you’re keeping count.
But it’s not the last. “So remember, if you should be called to jury service, you will become a proud citizen who has rendered a valuable service to your state and country,” McMahon said.
Rep. James R. Langevin has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, while his House colleague Patrick J. Kennedy is sticking with his choice of Sen. (and fellow Providence College alum) Christopher Dodd, of Connecticut.
Neither of Rhode Island’s U.S. senators — Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse — has indicated which candidate will garner his support. According to their aides, neither is close to announcing a favorite.
Reed may have an especially tough decision, since several longtime colleagues — Senators Dodd; Clinton, of New York; Joseph Biden, of Delaware; and Barack Obama, of Illinois — are seeking the Democratic nomination.
Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, arrives tomorrow at former Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino’s East Side home for a fundraising lunch for his wife’s presidential effort.
The 40th birthday of Christine Heenan, major domo at the Clarendon Group public affairs and P.R. shop, brought a bevy of lobbyists, health-care executives and pols to Local 121, on Washington Street, in Providence on Thursday.
Heenan, who in September is marrying Mike Mello, former chief of staff to Providence Mayor David Cicilline, was feted by her Clarendon colleagues and a crowd that included Cicilline; Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts; Joseph Amaral, outgoing president of Rhode Island Hospital; Marisa Quinn, assistant to Brown University President Ruth Simmons; State House lobbyists Frank McMahon and Matt Lopes; Susannah Rhodes, a fundraiser for Roberts; and Julie Andrews, a Democratic consultant now harvesting cash for Jack Reed’s 2008 reelection campaign.
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