U releases premium recommendations

1) although there is a lot of talk about 5% for single employees, the actual figure may be more than that if you don’t choose a cheap plan, reducing choice
2) employees with dependents are going to get screwed (even worse than they already are), paying about 20% of premiums for their dependents
3) there is NO help for low-income employees
4) employees may not opt out unless they get insurance elsewhere, presenting the employee no choice but to take a wage cut.

The way it works (sketched):
The U looks at the two cheapest plans. They average the cost, and then pay 95% of it for a single employee. This means that if the employee choses a more expensive plan, they will be paying more than 5% (figures to follow).
Dependents will pay about 20% of their premiums, but this figure may be increased, in order to make the U meet their target of 15% all told.

The Grad Care Kicker:
GradCare costs (total) about $225/mo. If the U really follows their formula (calculate 95% of cheapest plans, excluding grad care*), they come up with a contribution of somewhere in the range of $280-290. This means that GEO employees who enroll in Grad Care should get money BACK! Yet somehow, the U’s numbers belie this analyis, showing that the U will only contribute 220 for
grad care. This is, as far as I can tell, without explanation.

*the U’s argument is that we’re getting the same treatment as the faculty. since they can’t get Grad Care, it presumably won’t be calculated in the U’s contribution. Even if they used Grad Care to make the calculation, their contribution would be 242.25, and Grad Care enrollees would still be entitled to money back.

Like I said, this is just a first pass at the report. More details and clarifications will no doubt follow.