Open Enrollment: When Pilot Points in the Wrong Direction
/It’s time for Dow Jones employees in the United States to select healthcare coverage for 2023. With three plan tiers to choose from—Choice POS II, Basic Choice and CDHP—there is plenty of information to consider. So, the “decision support tool” known as “Pilot” offered on the company’s benefits websites is a great resource to help you make the right selection.
Or is it?
Year after year, IAPE members have complained that no matter the information they enter into Pilot, the system always selects the high deductible CDHP plan as the primary option. Go ahead, try it for yourself—change your preferences, the number of times you expect to see a physician in a year, upcoming surgeries, medications you take. We’ll bet Pilot chooses the CDHP plan for you, too.
Why is this a problem? IAPE members have also complained about inadequate coverage and higher-than-expected bills after selecting the CDHP plan. Unfortunately, by the time these concerns are realized, it is usually too late to switch to a more appropriate coverage level. When you select your annual coverage, you’re locked in for the benefit year!
So, take it from us and your colleagues who have been burned by Pilot in the past. Review available plan information including physician networks, deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket payments. Don’t use an auto pilot to land on the coverage you need for 2023.
Support for Pittsburgh Strikers!
In case you missed our email invitation on Monday, all IAPE members are encouraged to attend “What’s it like to be on Strike?” a Zoom support call for striking Guild members at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Where: on Zoom, RSVP: bit.ly/pittsburgh-on-strike
When: Thursday, Nov. 3 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EDT
What does it mean to go on strike? How do you prepare to walk off the job? What do you actually do day-to-day on the picket line? Join us to hear directly from our union siblings at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who are on an Unfair Labor Practice strike right now against one of the most notoriously anti-union publishers in the country. These workers have been denied raises for 14 years, saw their healthcare benefits slashed, and have been at the bargaining table since 2017 with no end in sight.
The Block family, which owns the Gazette, is refusing to bargain in good faith and has created a hostile work environment forcing long-time journalists to leave the company. We know they have the money—they're spending millions on a union-busting firm instead of paying their employees fair wages.
The Pittsburgh Guild’s fight is our fight, and we stand with them. Their strike represents the first prolonged strike in the NewsGuild in decades, and as media owners become more and more shamelessly aggressive in their efforts to quash workers’ rights, the PGH Guild's fight is increasingly relevant for our own units here in New York. At the end of the event, we'll take a zoom photo together to demonstrate our solidarity with the striking members of the PGH Guild.