Graphic Communicator photos by Susan Zachem

At the annual trustees meeting seated from left are: Teresa Bauer of cds; fund co-chairmen Andrew Douglas and Robert Lindgren; and GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, fund secretary. Standing from left are fund attorney Martin Ganzglass; Charles W. Breitsman of cds; and Stuart Wohl and William Rivers of The Segal Company.

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From left, Washington 449S Pres. Kenneth L. Gaines, Kansas City 235M Pres. Jim Miller, and Indianapolis 303M Pres. Nicholas Hicks prepare for a session of the annual trustees meeting.

From left are Jim Giencke, president of the Arandall Corp., Menomonee Falls, Wis.; Joliet-Ottawa 471M Pres. Joseph Alves; Milwaukee-Madison 577M Vice Pres. Mike Sippy; and Seattle 767M Secy.-Treas. Steven Aldrich.

Teresa Bauer of cds, which administers the national health and welfare fund, answers questions for trustees of the Washington 144B and 449S funds. Seated from left are Local 144B Pres. Gerald Weikel; Steve Bearden, president of Linemark Printing; and Terry Heyer, president of the Printing and Graphic Communications Association.

Union trustee and local president Gordon Beukema, left, and William Eckerle, employer trustee, work out figures for the Grand Rapids 550M fund.

From left, are employer representatives Kelley Frengle and Patti Talleur of the Graphic Arts Center and Seattle 767M Secy.-Treas. Steven Aldrich.

Seated from left, are: Patrick Dier, and Donna Dee, human resources managers for Pechiney Plastic Packaging; and Tom Englebert of Neenah 77P. Standing at left is Local 77P Vice Pres. James Bemowski. Standing at right is Evansville 571M Pres. Robert Lacey.

Following the recession, stock market plummet and steep increases in health care costs of the past several years, the Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund's financial status began to heal in 2003.

According to auditor Joseph Herishen of Salter & Co., the fund had a net increase in assets. Consultant William Rivers of The Segal Co. reported a slight improvement in operating costs over the previous fiscal year "but still a small loss."

However, to insure the continued health of the fund, the trustees approved changes in the fund that included premium increases and a revision in the way groups' premiums are calculated based on their experience ratings.

Philadelphia 14M's Andrew Douglas, who co-chairs the fund with Robert Lindgren, employer trustee for the Los Angeles 404M fund, noted that rising health care costs are a nationwide problem. "We're all confronted in collective bargaining with health insurance premium issues," Douglas said. "All funds and corporations around the country are faced with rising health care costs, and it's a major issue for us."

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi praised the fund's labor and management trustees for working together on "one of the most controversial and difficult issues facing this whole nation."

"You are in one of these no-win situations," Tedeschi said. "Even if you have a good year and you maintain the contribution rate or the benefit level, people look at you and say: 'why can't we do better?' But we know the cost of health care in this country – and prescriptions and dental and vision – and we know that it rises every year. So, at best, we try to hold the line and have minor increases. . . . You have a very challenging task ahead of you."

Trustees approved an average increase of 7.7 percent in overall premiums, effective Jan. 1, 2004. They approved a 9.9 percent increase in medical premiums, due to nationwide increases in health care costs.

Stuart Wohl of The Segal Co. said the premium increase, "compared to other increases we've been seeing – this is pretty good."

The annual survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET) found the health insurance premiums among private employers increased by 13.9 percent in 2003 – the third consecutive year of double-digit increases and the largest increase since 1990.

In another area, trustees approved a plan to help with re-balancing the rates paid by individual groups that participate in the fund. Groups' medical and other experience factors will be reviewed on a three-year cycle.

Douglas noted that most private insurers review experience every year. Smaller groups with a bad year – such as a few very expensive medical cases – can get hit hard with a high premium increase.

Lindgren said that the executive board decided the review was necessary to lessen some of the premium inequities that have evolved since the fund launched its primarily self-insured structure in 1997. The start-up rates were based on those used by the fund's previous health insurance coverage provider. He said it was important to establish the three-year review cycle policy "so people can plan for it."

GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who serves as secretary of the fund, said the amendment to the plan's structure to review individual groups' medical experience will "add stability and increase the competitiveness of the fund. Meanwhile, individual groups will continue to benefit from the advantage of being in with the larger group in terms of experience."

Groups participating in the Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund have five medical plan options, two health maintenance organization (HMO) options, six prescription drug plan options, three vision care options, and three model dental plan options. The plan options vary in basic costs, co-pays, deductibles, network utilization discounts, and services covered.

Managed health care networks in the fund include the nationwide Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS); the Associates for Health Care (AHC) for groups in Wisconsin; and Healthlink. The nationwide HMO options are through the CIGNA Network Open Access plan.

Pharmacy benefit managers for the plan are ExpressScripts and Eckerd Health Services, depending on the geographical region.

The fund provides life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance through Aetna. The fund also offers self-insured Medicare supplemental and disability coverage.

Administration of the fund is performed by cds, headquartered in Pittsburgh. Charles W. Breitsman of cds reported on the fund's compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. HIPAA requires health care providers, administrators, vendors, employers and nearly anyone else who comes into contact with individuals' health care information to transmit health care information electronically via computers and to protect the privacy of health care information.

Breitsman, who serves as the fund's HIPAA privacy officer, said cds has met the HIPAA requirements for electronic data interchange (EDI) by installing a completely new software system and assisting fund participants with their implementation of EDI. He said cds also has met the privacy requirements through notices to plan participants and through restructuring of cds office space so that confidential health care information is protected.

Robert Lacey, president of Evansville 571M and chairman of the fund's Appeal Committee, reported that the number of appeals related to medical claims has declined significantly since the fund began its self-insured program. He said appeals for the year are projected at about 60 to 65, compared with 81, 93, and 90 for each of the previous three years.

Health insurance premiums increase by double digits for third straight year Private health insurance premiums increased 13.9 percent in 2003, according to the annual survey of employers by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. The Kaiser Foundation reported that the 2003 increase was the largest increase since 1990; the seventh straight year of increases; and the third consecutive year of double digit increases. For the second straight year, premium increases exceeded the rate of inflation by more than 10 percentage points. GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who directs legislative activities for the International union and who serves as secretary of the Graphic Communications National Health and Welfare Fund, said the Kaiser survey is "bad news for working families, most of whom must absorb cost-shifting by employers on health insurance premiums. It also is terrible news for the millions of Americans who do not receive health insurance through their employment or who are unemployed with no health insurance." "The health insurance situation in the United States has become intolerable," Martinez said. "How can the most well-to-do nation on earth not allow its citizens the most basic health care protections? There is a political solution and this is the year that we must voice our concerns in the voting booth," he said. The Kaiser survey found that health insurance premiums in 2003 averaged $3,383 for single coverage and $9,068 for family coverage. The Kaiser report is based on a survey between January and May of 2003 of 2,808 randomly selected private and public employers that ranged in size from three workers to corporations with more than 300,000 employees.