On-line petition to President Napolitano regarding health insurance

As you are probably aware, there have been many recent changes to UC Health Care, including the removal of UC retirees from UC health plans if they move out of California, reduction of UC contributions to retiree health care from 100% to 70%, and the discontinuation, a year ago, of Blue Cross Plus, Blue Cross PPO, and Anthem plans and their replacement by a new “self-funded” PPO medical insurance plan, UC Care, that left many UC employees without access to nearby providers.

In the last month, an especially difficult situation has arisen due to abrupt termination of Blue Shield’s contract with Sutter Health. The following petition message was written by the Santa Cruz Faculty Association, sister chapter of the Davis Faculty Association, requesting that President Napolitano look into these recurring problems and ensure reliable health care for UC employees.

 


 

Dear Colleagues,

As most of you are doubtless aware, the recent breakdown in talks between Blue Shield and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (Sutter) could have enormous and negative consequences for UC employees, many of whom will lose coverage or be forced to change medical providers. This impasse is only the latest in a series of changes to UC health insurance, and we are very concerned about the overall downward trend. We believe it is important for UC faculty to register their concerns and so are sponsoring the following petition, urging President Napolitano to make improvements to health insurance a top administrative priority.

We invite ALL UC faculty and staff – at ALL campuses to sign the petition, forward the link widely, and encourage your colleagues to sign as well.

To sign the petition, please go to the petition page at http://ucscfa.org/blue-shield-sutter-petition/

In solidarity,
The SCFA