Local 5058: Educational Meeting in March

Local 5058 held an educational meeting for approximately 30 Union Reps on March 3, 2010 at the First Aid Squad building in Neptune City. During the meeting, the Reps heard presentations from several speakers.

The first was by HPAE Public Policy staff member Jeanne Pierce, who presented on HPAE’s Committee on Political Education (COPE). This committee has been successful in winning legislative victories for HPAE members in several areas, including Violence in the Workplace, Paid Family Leave, Public Disclosure, as well as many other policies that affect health care workers. "The purpose of this committee," said Jeanne "is to educate legislators on what's really happening". COPE's current project is to prevent corruption in hospitals' boards of trustees. In recent years, hospitals have suffered due to trustees pursuing personal interest instead of community interest. COPE is working on mandating that trustees be properly trained and ensuring that there are no conflicts of interest or “self-dealing” among the board members.. Finally, COPE would like to see members attend the annual public meeting that the hospital is mandated to host, with the purpose of having Local 5058 members ask the questions about the budget that need to be asked.

Second was a presentation by Joanne Cole of the NJSNA's Recovery and Monitoring Program (RAMP). According to their website, RAMP "is designed to encourage health professionals to seek a recovery program before their impairment harms a patient or damages their careers through a disciplinary action." Instead of a nurse losing their license for impaired practice, a nurse can comply with this program, be evaluated and, if necessary, receive treatment. After successful completion of the program, he or she can then return to work - without any blemishes on his or her record. The program provides a number of services including "advocacy with employers, assistance with communication to licensing boards and other sanctioning agencies, urine drug screening through First Lab, confidential data collection to document maintenance of recovery, independent resources regarding treatment options for and recovery from impaired practice." The uniqueness of this program is its commitment to the total well being of the nurse: if he or she is terminated, RAMP works to ensure the extension of the nurse's benefits to cover treatment. A variety of treatment types are provided as well; weekly peer groups, 12-Step programs, in/out patient treatment, and continued monitoring. Anyone can report impaired practice, and if you or anyone you work with is in need of treatment, contact Arlene Davis at 609-883-5335 (ext. 35). For more information about the services, Click here.

Finally, Mike Slott, HPAE Education Director and a trustee of the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust, made a presentation on HPAE’s medical expense reimbursement program for retirees. Local 5058 members will soon be voting on whether to participate in the program through mandatory employee, pre-tax contributions of $.20/hour.

The Retiree Medical Trust was established in 2007 in response to HPAE’s members need for retiree healthcare benefits. Most private sector hospitals provide no retiree health benefits to its employees. The Trust provides eligible retirees with reimbursements for various medical expenses.

Because of its tax status as a non-profit, joint labor-management benefit fund, contributions to the Trust, interest earned on investments, and the reimbursements to retirees are not considered taxable income.

Reimbursements can be provided for any medical expenses considered to be tax deductible by the IRS. So, in addition to reimbursements for co-payments, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs from a medical plan, the Trust will reimburse eligible retirees for over the counter medications that are purchased.

For more information on the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust, please view the PowerPoint. Or you can also contact Mike Slott, a Union Trustee and HPAE Education Director at mslott@hpae.org.