APS and new healthcare provider

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a federal employee, I wanted to chime in on the facebook threads and ask if teachers were urgently writing to their elected officials to advocate for the government not to shut down. How many families in APS would be impacted by a shutdown? That's a major upheaval, but, you don't see parents whining to teachers asking for support.

Ideally, APS would have more than one insurance option available to staff, but, the contracting/procurement/funding is what it is. I understand it's not ideal to have to switch health care providers, but, as numerous people have pointed out, this is routine in the rest of the professional world, and all of us who are not teachers do not get to enjoy summers off to schedule any and every appointment under the sun for ourselves and our families.

as a federal employee how many times have you had your healthcare changed up on you??????? and please do ask your question on the FB page…we’ll be waiting to respond.

DP. Federal employees have pretty good and consistent options. Premiums can change regularly. Nevertheless, it's not about any one individual profession. Federal contractors who have to change companies frequently experience benefits changes that not only include entirely different health plans; but sometimes no options among health plans, and different amounts of leave regardless of years of professional experience, different retirement plan options, etc. And sometimes they end up with really really crappy insurance and leave. And the stress of being a contractor with changes in contract awards etc.

I really do feel bad for those of you who chose Kaiser and now have to change. I really do. It sucks and it's crappy APS didn't give more consideration to that when half of its workforce is apparently on that plan and it is an entirely different system. I'd be furious and anxious and disappointed and angry and everything else, too. But it is not the issue you should expect parents to get involved in.

Exactly, federal employees have it pretty good.

+1

[Anonymous]

Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

Didn’t realize working inside with kids is the most terrible job, where you get paid, have benefits including a pension. That doesn’t sound like a profession that is treated more poorly than anyone else. Have you ever heard of manual labor or jobs that are exposed to all outdoor elements? Please stop crying about teachers when there are LOTS of hard jobs out there where people are not being treated well.

[Anonymous]

Never in my life have I seen people Stan for Kaiser so hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never in my life have I seen people Stan for Kaiser so hard.

It’s mostly just resistance to change. The premiums are actually decreasing. I think the vast majority of people will be happy enough once the change has gone through. Of course there are some with complex situations who will experience more disruption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

Didn’t realize working inside with kids is the most terrible job, where you get paid, have benefits including a pension. That doesn’t sound like a profession that is treated more poorly than anyone else. Have you ever heard of manual labor or jobs that are exposed to all outdoor elements? Please stop crying about teachers when there are LOTS of hard jobs out there where people are not being treated well.

Wow. You people really can’t read sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

Didn’t realize working inside with kids is the most terrible job, where you get paid, have benefits including a pension. That doesn’t sound like a profession that is treated more poorly than anyone else. Have you ever heard of manual labor or jobs that are exposed to all outdoor elements? Please stop crying about teachers when there are LOTS of hard jobs out there where people are not being treated well.

Nobody said it's the most terrible job.

Just leave teachers alone FFS. You've already done enough damage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

Didn’t realize working inside with kids is the most terrible job, where you get paid, have benefits including a pension. That doesn’t sound like a profession that is treated more poorly than anyone else. Have you ever heard of manual labor or jobs that are exposed to all outdoor elements? Please stop crying about teachers when there are LOTS of hard jobs out there where people are not being treated well.

Nobody said it's the most terrible job.

Just leave teachers alone FFS. You've already done enough damage.

STFU. stop whining and we’ll leave you alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

Didn’t realize working inside with kids is the most terrible job, where you get paid, have benefits including a pension. That doesn’t sound like a profession that is treated more poorly than anyone else. Have you ever heard of manual labor or jobs that are exposed to all outdoor elements? Please stop crying about teachers when there are LOTS of hard jobs out there where people are not being treated well.

Nobody said it's the most terrible job.

Just leave teachers alone FFS. You've already done enough damage.

The people doing the damage are your colleagues complaining so publicly.

[Anonymous]

The real story here will be whether APS wrote the RFP in a way to exclude Kaiser from submitting a bid.

That, and the fact that they could have told people about this in July.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real story here will be whether APS wrote the RFP in a way to exclude Kaiser from submitting a bid.

That, and the fact that they could have told people about this in July.

I don’t think telling people in July, when details were not finalized. It was already past the date of not being able to transfer districts without potential penalty. People would have been saying all the same stuff plus that APS “ruined their summer”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a federal employee, I wanted to chime in on the facebook threads and ask if teachers were urgently writing to their elected officials to advocate for the government not to shut down. How many families in APS would be impacted by a shutdown? That's a major upheaval, but, you don't see parents whining to teachers asking for support.

Ideally, APS would have more than one insurance option available to staff, but, the contracting/procurement/funding is what it is. I understand it's not ideal to have to switch health care providers, but, as numerous people have pointed out, this is routine in the rest of the professional world, and all of us who are not teachers do not get to enjoy summers off to schedule any and every appointment under the sun for ourselves and our families.

as a federal employee how many times have you had your healthcare changed up on you??????? and please do ask your question on the FB page…we’ll be waiting to respond.

DP. Federal employees have pretty good and consistent options. Premiums can change regularly. Nevertheless, it's not about any one individual profession. Federal contractors who have to change companies frequently experience benefits changes that not only include entirely different health plans; but sometimes no options among health plans, and different amounts of leave regardless of years of professional experience, different retirement plan options, etc. And sometimes they end up with really really crappy insurance and leave. And the stress of being a contractor with changes in contract awards etc.

I really do feel bad for those of you who chose Kaiser and now have to change. I really do. It sucks and it's crappy APS didn't give more consideration to that when half of its workforce is apparently on that plan and it is an entirely different system. I'd be furious and anxious and disappointed and angry and everything else, too. But it is not the issue you should expect parents to get involved in.

Exactly, federal employees have it pretty good.

Yes. Except for shutdowns and constant threats of defunding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread.

Government workers in general get amazing benefits and job protections unrivaled by any private sector jobs in this country. In local government (including teachers), workers get a defined benefit pension. This is very unique. These things are a huge deal and have a lot of value.

For anyone who does not like their work environment or working conditions or just simply finds the nature of their profession no longer works for them, if you are able to make a different decision about your job then do so.

Teachers have put up with a lot. I can’t believe how terrible everyone is on this thread. Yes, it sucks for them - and the total lack of sympathy is awful. Perhaps there was/is nothing APS could’ve done differently apart from messaging - but sometimes the way you present it is enough to diffuse the blow.

There is a lot of sympathy for teachers on many threads regarding many issues. This one just isn't one that warrants profuse empathy and wielding protest signs outside Syphax. I don't believe everyone has to be overly sympathetic for every crappy thing teachers have to deal with. I'd say community empathy for teacher complaints outweighs teacher empathy for parent complaints on this - and other - forums.....bad parent behavior excepted from the conversation because that's just not excusable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Here is the final word.

Teachers have one of the most terrible jobs and get treated more poorly than any other profession.

We thank you for what you do but it’s not enough and we should be taking time out of our lives to advocate more for you. We are failing.

When you publicly complain and try to get us involved, we should either join in and support you no questions asked or if we don’t agree just ignore the whole thing. To even comment or insert factual information makes us a-holes and bullies and unsympathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The real story here will be whether APS wrote the RFP in a way to exclude Kaiser from submitting a bid.

That, and the fact that they could have told people about this in July.

I don’t think it is so much about when they told us but how. Someone in that ivory tower should have anticipated that with more than half of their workers using Kaiser this would be a major shift. Since so many will be affected maybe they should have started with the second email: explaining the provisions, support for staff, and the info sessions, etc. including this in an email sent to staff in the middle of the school day was a shock for many. At least that’s what I saw in my school. I felt bad for our custodians- there are some language barriers for them and they were very confused. That was unnecessary but as for asking the public for support, I think that’s silly. I am not affected and those in my school making the most noise do it because change is hard. They don’t speak for the majority. What is true is that the message could have been managed a lot differently.