UFT still hasn’t told members about October 1 copay increases

October 1 Emblem added copays for Montefiore, no longer considered a “preferred provider.” And on November 1 Emblem copays for MRIs and CTs will double from $50 to $100, except for three providers.

Emblem (which used to be GHI) wrote to us, and told us. The letter was dated Thursday a week and a half ago. Some of us got it Friday, I got mine Saturday, some people got it on Monday.

But none of us got anything from the UFT, which is unusual. The UFT always (well, clearly not always) sends out some sort of announcement about a change, kind of reminding us that no matter the result, they negotiated it, they are in charge. Imagine the message “We were able to preserve the same copay, as long as you use RadNet instead of the imaging center in your hospital’s network” or something like that.

But nope. No word from the UFT. Not before October 1, the effective date. Not before October 20, when Emblem sent out notice. And not even by the end of October. It’s November, and Mulgrew’s people are staying mum on these new and higher copays.

At a UFT meeting last Tuesday a member asked about these copays. There were two officers there. Neither had heard of the fees. Neither had seen the letter.

You might wonder…

Is it legal for Emblem to raise fees October 1, and not tell people it covers until October 20 (really October 21, 22, or 24, because, you know, mail…)?

How had officers not seen the Emblem letter? Do officers get different health insurance from regular UFT members?

And why is the UFT leadership slow to send out information about copay increases? Did they forget? Or are they trying not to share additional bad health care news the same week they are threatening members with huge premiums?

And if the UFT leadership hasn’t been forthcoming about new copays and copay increases, wouldn’t that make people wonder about what they say about other health care issues?