Jump to content

IATSE health insurance


Bartek

Recommended Posts

Hello,

Just wondering what IATSE health insurance plans everyone out there has. Im weighing my options currently, and would love to hear from all the members who experienced the pros and cons first hand. Pointers, what to look out for, and any relevant comments would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

Bartek

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unlike most posters here I'm not a member of local 695--I belong to Local 16 in the San Francisco area.  I think our plan isn't quite as good a deal as the LA Flex plan, but it is still way better than what you could get on your own.  Do you have a spouse w/ a health plan at work?  Do you have kids?  How is dental and optical covered in the plan you are looking at (are they covered?)? Psychiatric?  Drug counseling?  How much physical therapy?  How much will your copay be on your typical doctor's/dentist office visit?  How much if you need a procedure?  How complex is the paperwork--ie how many phone calls to get each episode straightened out?  My local's plan is a good deal for families, less so for individuals, but it is still a major selling point for people thinking of joining up.

Philip Perkins

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Health benefits are greatly appreciated by the over 50 crowd of union members. Its then when Dr. bills get expensive. A friend needed nose surgery due to a displacement of his nose by a drunken girlfriend. $ 30K - covered. another needed a hernia operation , a simple one, $ 35K - covered.

There is one serious problem though the union has not addressed in their negotiations with the employers: long term illness (thats code for cancer generally). If you run out of the healthplan and the banked hours , and the (expensive) Cobra plan (this takes about 3 years) YOU ARE FUCKED. 

Another friend had cancer , needed 3 operations that had to be spaced by months, and now that he has been declared a "survivor" has to pay for the last operation himself or maybe Medi-Cal (Californias health plan) will cover it.

Maybe when Tom Short starts suffering from Emphysema ( he smokes like a chimney) he will address this issue.

There are several other cases of folks who are no longer with us to tell this story. What breaks my heart most are those people who are really ill and have to stay at work just to maintain their coverage. Does the union speak for the weak - the ones who need a defense more than most??? not this one.

wolf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...