After the close of 2012 bargaining, it was discovered that the healthcare premium structure which nearly all City unions and the City agreed to would actually drive up the costs of healthcare because it failed to maintain competition between Kaiser and Blue Shield. The County’s Health Service System (HSS) office began working with the coalition of unions to devise a new premium structure that would allow for greater competition between plans without significantly increasing costs for employees. Last week a Tentative Agreement was reached between CCSF and the unions participating in that negotiation. UAPD members were sent details of the proposed plan, and will be asked to vote on whether or not to approve the change. If ratified, the tentative agreement would save city employees $62.1 million over the next five years, according to Health Service System (HSS) calculations. The union coalition will also hold in-person meetings to explain the plan prior to the ratification vote.
