Blog comments

Hi, Susan.

I was so glad to see you say "or some other huge entity," because I agree with you that it's unlikely that Congress--in the current political environment--would ever make the insurance companies obsolete.

But what would happen to that environment if we took some other huge entity and offered affordable health insurance through it, and made joining it available to anyone who wanted to join?  The bigger it got, the more it could make insurance affordable for its members, and if it got sufficiently big to dominate the market, maybe we could get to single payer through that route -- maybe the government could then step in.

Joining a traditional union is fraught with obstacles, of course, but there are union-related organizations that anyone can join: the Steelworkers' associate member program, Fight Back America (www.fightbackamerica.net), or the AFL-CIO's community affiliate, Working America (www.workingamerica.org).

We've just seen the UAW leadership take on providing retiree health care through VEBAs (Voluntary Employee Beneficiaries Associations). What if the Steelworkers or Working America launched a VEBA that anyone could join?

I had a brief conversation with Karen Nussbaum, the executive director of Working America, after her session at the "What's the Economy For, Anyway" conference in Washington a couple of weeks ago.  I raised this idea with her and was disappointed to hear her immediately dismiss it.  I didn't take notes of our conversation, so I hope I am not misquoting her, but my recollection of her reaction is that she said "No.  The unions are not going to provide health care.  There are other priorities," such as the Employee
Free Choice Act.

I agree with her that halting the assault on organizing has to be a top priority, but it seems to me that providing access to affordable health care through a voluntary membership organization would appeal to so many people that it would complement the AFL-CIO's organizing efforts, not compete with them.

I'd love to see a state launch this.  For a couple of years now, I've been spinning a modest proposal to anyone who will listen: a union-friendly state legislator ought to introduce a bill requiring that all insurers who seek to market their plans to the big, lucrative pool of state employees must offer the same plans to any sufficiently large membership organization.  And that union-friendly legislator could take care to define "sufficiently large" at a number that the state's Steelworkers membership or Working America membership could meet.  Churches could jump in, too, if they were big
enough.  The more the merrier!

Insurers just need some sort of big groups to spread the risk.  There's nothing in actuarial science that says those big groups have to be based on one's employment.  As long as health care in this country is primarily linked to employment, it has dysfunctional effects on both the health care market and the employment market.  I applaud the UAW for having the courage to start tinkering with that link.

Apparently this guy does, too (I found this while Googling "VEBA"):

http://seekingalpha.com/article/48617-uaw-veba-enters-the-healthcare-ring

"Will VEBA eventually accept or seek a significant role in shareholder activism in general and in the health care and pharma industries in particular? ...  VEBA, to ensure its financial integrity, will need to learn how to brawl and rumble in the health care field. The union DNA will serve it well. The UAW will want to ensure its members are well taken care off. The auto companies will want to make sure the funding checks they write are
the last ones. ... What will happen to the capital markets if we know a new player is coming on board with fresh new capital in the range of $65 billion, which needs to start working now?"

Interesting times.

Best,
Anne

Wow is that right on.  Exactly the problem here in our county. We have the haves and the have-mores and then the workers you describe in your blog. The problem here is HOUSING – people have to live far away, have long commutes. One woman fell asleep at the wheel on her way to work (single Mom, no license, illegal) crossed the barrier and killed a 27 year old daughter of one of our long-time doctors. Day care is a problem, those who can afford it don’t want to pay for those who can’t, illegal immigrants are a huge problem. This used to be “Happy Valley.” Not so much anymore. 
– ER in Colorado

Hi Susan,

Just saw your blog for the first time and really enjoyed looking through the entries about work/life issues in the news. In fact, it inspired me to suggest that you take a look at a piece that ran in our magazine and website last month: The Extreme CIO (http://www.cio.com/article/132551). Jumping off the "extreme jobs" research from the CWLP, CIO magazine examined how globalization, technology and corporate expectations are turning the CIO job into an extreme sport and how folks are trying to cope with this challenge.

I think the article speaks to a wider audience beyond the CIO. I hope you think so, too.

Regards,
Steff Gelston
Senior Editor
CIO Magazine
508-935-4630

Thanks Steff: I did see that article and thought it was great. I agree that it speaks to a fast-growing and very wide audience, and the comments on it were as interesting as the article, including the fact that only one out of ten included his name.

For those of you who missed it, it includes the Sylvia Ann Hewlett/Carolyn Buck Luce test of extreme jobs. Unpredictable flow of work; fast-paced work under tight deadlines; a scope of responsibility that amounts to more than one job; work-related events outside regular work hours; 24/7 availability; responsibility for profit and loss; responsibility for mentoring and recruiting; large amount of travel; large number of direct reports; and physical presence at workplace at least 10 hours a day.

– Susan