The On-Again/Off-Again Hawaiian Telescope Seems to.Silo Thinking and the Runaway Train on Retiree Hea.UCLA's Heads-Will-(Likely)-Roll Scandal Continues.College Athletes and the "Fair Pay to Play" Act.(Unexercised) Bargaining Power and the Runaway Tra.For now, the Runaway Train on retiree healthcare h.UC Davis is latest institution to adopt a referenc.More on CALPERS Long-Term Care Litigation.UC (1749) politics (1636) UC Regents (1610) health care (1234) State Budget (1145) governor (1000) UC budget crisis (879) UC-Berkeley (780) pension (624) pensions (584) diversity (567) tuition (516) admissions (457) athletics (410) CSU (365) transportation (354) UC-Davis (350) online education (325) ucrp (293) audio (285) new hotel-conference center (280) UCOP (267) UC enrollment (262) uc retirement (250) traffic (247) enrollment (234) UC-San Diego (224) community colleges (211) LAO (194) UC-Irvine (167) fund raising (154) UC-Santa Barbara (134) ballot propositions (132) faculty center (129) UC-Riverside (126) UC-Santa Cruz (123) CalPERS (120) controller (120) UC-San Francisco (116) Master Plan (98) faculty pay (98) UC-Merced (92) Yudof (89) UCRS retirement (60) privatization (59) Faculty Association at UCLA (55) parking (53) CalSTRS (50) UC Berkeley (32) campus climate survey (28) copyright (25) UCRS (21) Michigan Model (18) UC Merced (17) uc funding (16) State Contribution (14) UCOF (14) Regents (13) faculty recruitment (12) UC pay (7) graduate education (6) UC San Diego (5) UCpolitics (3) teaching evaluation (3) UC Irvine (2) UC Santa Cruz (2) We'll have more to say about this issue in the future. ![]() Isn't it more likely than not that the $40 million comes from this aspect of privatization? Looking at bids and ignoring the impact of privatizing is silo thinking. All the rest is frills, even if ostensible coverage is widened. If there is no high quality evidence about the impact of shifting the definition of what is medically necessary, wouldn't it be a good idea to gather some? The shift from Medicare decision-making to private insurance carrier decision-making is the key aspect of a Medicare Advantage plan. ![]() In both traditional Medicare and an MA PPO, patients have the right to appeal any decision that they believe is made in error. High-quality evidence does not currently exist concerning how, if at all, medical necessity decisions differ between traditional Medicare and MA PPOs. ![]() Under an MA PPO plan, the insurer offering the plan makes those decisions. One difference is that in traditional Medicare, the Medicare program makes decisions about whether a service is ‘medically necessary,’ which is not universally defined. Q: Are similar services covered under MA PPO plans as traditional Medicare?Ī: Yes, MA PPO plans are regulated by Medicare and required to cover the same services as traditional Medicare. So it is important to reproduce UCOP's own words from its FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document: The official word has been that everything will be much the same, that it is possible to save $40 million - or whatever the latest estimate is - without a degrading. Of course, the problems that arise from silo thinking occur only if there is a degrading of the retiree health care offerings. Ignoring the consequences of degrading retiree health care on such behavioral aspects and focusing on cost is silo thinking. The availability of retiree health insurance is important in such decisions. Yours truly has participated as a presenter at an annual conference encouraging such faculty to consider their retirement options. Various forms of phased retirement have been offered. Over the years - certainly at UCLA - there have been efforts at UCLA to encourage long-service, older faculty to retire. If it didn't, why was it created in the first place? Apart from legal issues of vesting, it figures into attraction and retention. Retiree health care is a significant benefit for active employees. Focusing on just one form of compensation and calculating supposed cost savings is silo thinking. You cannot separate retiree health care from other forms of compensation. The new committee that was hastily set up (after the original retiree health committee was abruptly killed) has no independent means of verifying what it is being told about the proposed privatization. ![]() The current rush to adopt a Medicare Advantage plan, probably by next month, is a perfect illustration of "silo thinking."* Basically, the issue is being driven by cost - although, as we have pointed out - the cost information seems to be provided by a UCOP-hired consultant.
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