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Post by Admin on Nov 7, 2014 6:48:41 GMT -5
Tell us what you think about the new Health Plan?
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I feel it's unfair to do this.
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Post by I feel it's unfair to do this. on Nov 11, 2014 6:47:58 GMT -5
The university just steamrolled this out and sold it as "good for us". Sounds like bait and switch to me...
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Post by frankly on Nov 12, 2014 10:47:09 GMT -5
It's a straight-up shift of health care cost and risk off of the University and onto employees. Probably shifting many millions of dollars off of Harvard's books and onto our families. But we have no way of knowing what the overall effect is, because the administration won't release any real numbers about how much it pays for health care.
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Post by stayhealthy on Nov 12, 2014 16:14:07 GMT -5
The administration is hurting the institution by refusing to work with staff and faculty on this issue and others. They should be models of what is taught here around diplomacy, research, and negotiation. The first step is to be transparent with the information. These plan changes are going completely in the wrong direction.
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Post by emilybronte on Nov 12, 2014 20:02:31 GMT -5
Why would the administration compare health care plans to our peer institutions? Would we ever tell prospective students that our faculty or resources are "comparable" with our peers. No. We strive to be the best possible. I know that's true about my faculty, students and my colleagues.
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Post by 41years on Nov 13, 2014 9:59:19 GMT -5
Long-term employees were encouraged to stay here by the promise of free healthcare for retirees. So much for that.
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Post by concerned admin on Nov 20, 2014 12:59:29 GMT -5
While on the surface shifting costs to the heaviest consumers sounds fair since this actually means shifting the costs on to families struggling with what are likely serious health issues it just feels wrong.
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Post by Postdoc @ Harvard on Dec 2, 2014 19:05:41 GMT -5
It is a horrible change especially to all those hard working and little earning postdocs like me. Making 40K a year is hard enough. Now if we have any medical issue, we'll have to pay all the way up to $1200 out of our own pocket. That would be a very difficult situation for any postdocs and all the change does is to prevent postdocs like me from getting proper medical care when we really need it.
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Post by disappointed on Dec 4, 2014 10:03:50 GMT -5
This change amounts to a regressive pay cut targeting those in most need. Historically Harvard has been able to get away with below-market salaries because they compensated us instead with spectacular benefits. If they are going to cut our benefits that equation doesn't work anymore. It is especially galling to see this sort of behavior at a time when the university is running a surplus. If Harvard were struggling, I could make a sacrifice for the greater good, but if we are thriving they should not punish us.
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Post by Informed Consumer on Dec 5, 2014 8:10:17 GMT -5
One of the points that the benefits folks raised in their explanatory road shows was that the changes would make employees informed consumers of health care as opposed to just recipients. There is much to say on this point but one thing that comes to mind is the fact that HMO's were founded on the idea of informed care and cost control. The primary care physician is intended to be the gatekeeper for care; making informed and professional decisions as what care is actually needed and then routing that care to pre-approved (from both a cost and quality perspective) providers within a defined network. Discussions between the patient and the primary care physician served to inform the need for care. Control is at the very heart of this model. The notion that people are out there mindlessly receiving expensive and unnecessary care is the antithesis of the existing model. Really, the changes just make it more likely that a patient will resist recommended care, emanating from a system already built on control, purely for financial reasons.
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Post by 25 years on Dec 16, 2014 16:07:10 GMT -5
I have stayed at Harvard mostly for the retirement health care benefits. now, when i get closer to retirement I think that dream is dying. I probably would not have stayed if this health plan model was adopted 5 years earlier. It is essentially a pay cut and i am not happy about that.
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