Per capita average prescription
drug expenditures in Canada = $795.30 (2012 CIHI data)
Per capita average prescription drug expenditures in BC =
$575.49 (2011 CIHI data)
more in prescription drug costs, particularly those
with chronic care drug costs.
When people are sick, or busy juggling complex lives, they
prioritize where to spend their time, and filing insurance
claims sometimes gets overlooked. The insurance industry knows
this, and relies on it. It's easy to reach $100
per year in unreimbursed prescription drug costs. We're fixing
this gap in our coverage in the only equitable way we could,
which is to increase the deductible per family.
From:
"Rick Coe"
<coe@sfu.ca>
To: "George Kirczenow"
<kirczeno@sfu.ca>
Cc: "carl schwarz"
<cschwarz@stat.sfu.ca>,
academic-discussion@sfu.ca
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2012 1:34:47 PM
Subject: Re: Bargaining Update 2012-11-30;
Negotiations end without agreement on monetary proposals; off
to arbitration.
Including me, George. In part for convenience, but largely
because I
figure that, as a group, we lose that $100/member each year in
claims
that are not filed..
At 04:08 PM 12/2/2012, you wrote:
>These were identified as a priority item by a large
number of members
>in our survey that we conducted at the start of
negotiations when we
>started the whole process.
>
>Carl.
>
>On Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 3:58 PM, George Kirczenow
<kirczeno@sfu.ca> wrote:
> > Can anyone explain why increasing the health
benefits deductible
> "from the current $25/family to $125/family
> > in exchange for the provision of a drug card (no
more filling out
> those forms to get reimbursement)
> > and coverage of contraceptives" is supposed to be a
good thing?
> Are we getting good value
> > for the $100 per year that we are giving up?
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> >> From: carl schwarz
<cschwarz@stat.sfu.ca>
> >> Subject: Bargaining Update 2012-11-30;
Negotiations end without
> agreement on monetary proposals; off to arbitration.
> >> Date: December 1, 2012 10:02:59 PM PST
> >> To:
sfufa-a-z@sfu.ca
> >>
> >> Bargaining Update 2012-12-01
> >>
> >> Negotiations end without agreement on monetary
proposals; off to
> arbitration.
> >>
> >> SFUFA and the Administration held our last
negotiation session on
> >> 2012-11-30 but we
> >> failed to come to an agreement on monetary
items. Our bargaining
> >> bulletins have clearly shown the need for a fix
to our salary scales.
> >> We were unable to come to an agreement with the
Administration who
> >> indicated that they were constrained by PSEC
(the Public Sector
> >> Employers Council) guidelines.
> >>
> >> Consequently, the negotiating team felt that we
had no choice but to
> >> go to arbitration. As a matter of principle,
Arbitrators are NOT tied
> >> by governmental guidelines that not legislated.
> >>
> >> The arbitration process in our Framework
Agreement is final offer
> >> selection (FOS). In this mode, both parties put
forward their proposal
> >> and the arbitrator must select one proposal or
the other in its
> >> entirety and both parties must accept it. This
differs substantially
> >> from interest arbitration (IA) where the
Arbitrator can pick and choose
> >> between items on the two proposals or even come
up with a different
> >> proposal from those submitted. In final offer
selection (our method),
> >> it is generally recommended that the issues be
few in number and
> >> tightly focused.
> >>
> >> Consequently, the Administration and SFUFA have
agreed on a number of
> >> items below that will form part of both party's
final offer to focus the
> >> difference in our respective proposals.
> >>
> >> (a) Agreement in principle of a new rank of
Teaching Professor and
> >> Professor of Professional Practise.
> >>
> >> The rank of Teaching Professor will provide a
further career path for
> >> our teaching appointments and generally
promotion to this new rank
> >> will require demonstration of scholarship in
pedagogy. UBC and UVic
> >> already have this new rank with similar
promotion criteria. Our
> >> existing policy A30.03 Section B.3
> >>
http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/academic/a30-03.html
already has a
> >> similar career path for research faculty.
> >>
> >> The rank of Professor of Professional Practise
will be modelled on our
> >> existing Clinical Professor rank (Policy A12.13,
> >>
http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/academic/a12-13.html) where
> >> external agencies can fund faculty here at SFU.
No SFU money will be
> >> involved. The existing cap of no more than 5% of
the both ranks of
> >> our complement that is in the current policy
will remain.
> >>
> >> SFUFA and the Admin will strike a committee to
make the necessary
> >> changes to our policies in time for September
2013.
> >>
> >>
> >> (b) Agreement to examine the need for an across
the board salary
> >> adjustments for Librarians under Section 9 of
our salary policy
> >> (A20.01
http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/academic/a20-01.html). A
> >> joint committee will be struck and report back
with implementation by
> >> 1 Sept 2013.
> >>
> >> By using the features of the existing policy
A20.01, some of the
> constraints
> >> imposed by PSEC are not applicable.
> >>
> >>
> >> (c) We were unable to come to agreement on
benefit changes other than
> >> increasing our deductible from the current
$25/family to $125/family
> >> in exchange for the provision of a drug card (no
more filling out
> >> those forms to get reimbursement) and coverage
of contraceptives. We
> >> hope these changes will take place 1 January
2013.
> >>
> >> Notice that the deductible is on a PER YEAR
BASIS and not on an
> >> prescription basis. Under the new agreement, a
member (and family)
> >> would have to incur $125 of expenses in a
calendar year before being
> >> reimbursed for subsequent expenses.
> >>
> >> SFUFA will be carefully reviewing our remaining
proposals for changes
> >> to our benefits
> >> to see if these are suitable under our final
offer selection arbitration.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> So what happens next...
> >>
> >> Both parties will prepare their arbitration
briefs and will exchange
> >> them between ourselves and send them to our
Arbitrator (Colin Taylor)
> >> on 21 December. Arbitrator Taylor is also the
arbitrator for UBC and
> >> UVic who also currently are at an impasse and
also headed for arbitration.
> >>
> >> The earliest date for our arbitration hearing
will likely be
> >> mid-February. At anytime up just before the
final ruling, both parties
> >> can still negotiate and come to an agreement.
SFUFA is ready at any
> >> time to resume negotiations if the
Administration is permitted by PSEC
> >> to address our concerns.
> >>
> >> I would like to personally thank the members of
our negotiation team (
> >> David Broun (Physics), Maureen Fizzell
(Business) and Brian Green
> >> (SFUFA)) the members of the Bargaining Advisory
Committee (too
> >> numerous to list) and the SFUFA Executive for
their work and advice
> >> during the bargaining rounds. Not everyone is
off the hook quite yet,
> >> as our team will be putting together our
Arbitration Brief in the next
> >> three weeks!
> >>
> >> Believe it not, the whole process will start up
again next September
> >> as the decision from the Arbitrator will run
from 2012-07-01 to
> >> 2014-06-30. We are essentially in perpetual
bargaining mode!
> >>
> >> If you have any questions about the
negotiations, please contact me
> >> (
cschwarz@stat.sfu.ca). I can also come to talk
to groups (e.g.
> Departments)
> >> as needed.
> >>
> >>
> >> Carl Schwarz
> >>
cschwarz@stat.sfu.ca
> >