Disabled on Cancer & Novartis is taking away my healthcare

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Anonymous said:
Unfortunately nothing is actionable until they make the changes.
Having said that you can certainly get the ball rolling in anticipation.
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LTD was switched into the post-retirement pool effective July 1, 2011. They are simply letting us pay the old premiums until Jan. 1, 2012. Are you not aware of this?
 








Anonymous said:
LTD was switched into the post-retirement pool effective July 1, 2011. They are simply letting us pay the old premiums until Jan. 1, 2012. Are you not aware of this?
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No. How where you made aware of this?



I did not have health insurance through Novartis before I had to go on LTD. My husband had better coverage with his job so we dropped Novartis health insurance about halfway through my tenure with Novartis and picked up his company's health insurance.

Are there any other changes to LTD in any way I should know? All I've gotten is the monthly statements from MetLife about my electronic deposit. I contacted the Benefits line earlier this year and was assured in writing that the "pension plan," I am in remains in effect and will take effect when I become 65 and LTD automatically ends. Is that still the case or has that changed too?
 








Anonymous said:
LTD was switched into the post-retirement pool effective July 1, 2011. They are simply letting us pay the old premiums until Jan. 1, 2012. Are you not aware of this?
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Perhaps but even if true how can you confirm what the new rates will be ?
& no, benefits is clueless about 2012 so it's of zero use to speak to them
 








Anonymous said:
Perhaps but even if true how can you confirm what the new rates will be ?
& no, benefits is clueless about 2012 so it's of zero use to speak to them
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If you call benefits, as I did, and ask what you would pay today if you were put in the post-retirement pool, they will give you the # based on your age. You have to guide them as they are not very bright. The caveat is that the number they give you is probably going to be even higher Jan. 1.
 








Anonymous said:
If you call benefits, as I did, and ask what you would pay today if you were put in the post-retirement pool, they will give you the # based on your age. You have to guide them as they are not very bright. The caveat is that the number they give you is probably going to be even higher Jan. 1.
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So on what grounds would you file suit until you have your new rates ?
Face it , you'll have to wait to get bent over , again , by novartis & then
start the class action.
 








Anonymous said:
I spoke to a lawyer from a prominent firm in D.C. this weekend about this. She has to recuse herself from any proceedings as her firm has represented NPC in the past. This is a gray area as it pertains to ERISA. Here is what she said:

Employers and insurers claim that they don't violate ERISA 702 when all the participants within a particular group, or all the participants within a particular plan, are all treated the same. In other words, they can't single out one person with cancer from a larger group of workers and say, "you have to pay more premiums, even though you're in the same group as everyone else." This is especially true when they have been included in this group until now and for no apparent reason they are now segregating them.

She said essentially Novartis is gambling no one will challenge this and it will just slide along. She said the way to sink this whole effort is to get a class action going and demand a jury trial. They will be crucified both financially and in public opinion. It will make the Velez case look like a joyride on both levels. In terms of damages it could be tens to hundreds of millions based on pain and suffering (undisputable in this group) with the added bonus of having to provide essentially free healthcare coverage to the plaintiffs.

This should be done in federal labor court and this way also the 33% contingency would be added on to the award to pay the lawyers above and beyond the actual damages awarded.

Found out that the head of HR benefits at Novartis is actually former Mckinsey consultant who brought former colleagues to devise this whole scheme; good for them.
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Good Stuff !
 
















































Anonymous said:
Benefits has no info . Someone needs to post contacts from bennies & what they claim will happen but believe me they are just playing dumb & will try & suck info out of you.
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Benefits is well aware. I have spoken to them twice about this matter. They also told me they are getting alot of calls about this as people begin to understand the implications.

I got a form letter in the mail on the last day of June saying that as I am on LTD from Novartis the medical pool I was in was being changed. Effective July 1, 2011 all persons on LTD were being put into the pre or post retirement age group medical pool. We would be able to continue to pay the current rates until Dec. 31, 2011 and then would be billed the new rates. Depending on whether you are under or over 65 determines where you are placed in the new pool. I then asked what the rate would be for me in in this new pool. The woman I was speaking with immediately told me that the rates for 2012 in the pre and post retirement pools were not yet available. This is probably what you ran into. I then asked her to give me the rate as of today if I were in the pre-retirement pool. She got off the phone for a few minutes and then came back. She said that for family coverage the current rate was almost $2,400/month. She immediately qualified her answer saying that this would not be the rate on Jan. 1, 2012 but only an approximation of where the rate would be. I currently pay below $300/month for family coverage on LTD through Novartis.

I have called back since. I asked if people were still calling in about this change and she said yes they were still getting many calls about this. It may also be that if you are not on LTD presently they have been instructed not to discuss this with you as it does not pertain to you personally. The point is, Benefits Resources are well aware of the changes being made and may (as reported also by some on this thread that HR is doing the same) be trying to keep it as quiet as possible.
 








Anonymous said:
Benefits is well aware. I have spoken to them twice about this matter. They also told me they are getting alot of calls about this as people begin to understand the implications.

I got a form letter in the mail on the last day of June saying that as I am on LTD from Novartis the medical pool I was in was being changed. Effective July 1, 2011 all persons on LTD were being put into the pre or post retirement age group medical pool. We would be able to continue to pay the current rates until Dec. 31, 2011 and then would be billed the new rates. Depending on whether you are under or over 65 determines where you are placed in the new pool. I then asked what the rate would be for me in in this new pool. The woman I was speaking with immediately told me that the rates for 2012 in the pre and post retirement pools were not yet available. This is probably what you ran into. I then asked her to give me the rate as of today if I were in the pre-retirement pool. She got off the phone for a few minutes and then came back. She said that for family coverage the current rate was almost $2,400/month. She immediately qualified her answer saying that this would not be the rate on Jan. 1, 2012 but only an approximation of where the rate would be. I currently pay below $300/month for family coverage on LTD through Novartis.

I have called back since. I asked if people were still calling in about this change and she said yes they were still getting many calls about this. It may also be that if you are not on LTD presently they have been instructed not to discuss this with you as it does not pertain to you personally. The point is, Benefits Resources are well aware of the changes being made and may (as reported also by some on this thread that HR is doing the same) be trying to keep it as quiet as possible.
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Point is you can't start the class action until the change is actually implemented. My attorneys are ready for this fight. I can't wait for depositions & testimony to start flying from Novartis . There will be a web site dedicated to posting every shred of information about this to the public. Every politician under the sun will be sent weekly update links. Novartis will NEVER have this fly under the radar no matter how much crack the former consultant & baert are smoking. OH & they better have a damn good reason they do this in the USA & not euro zone.
 








Anonymous said:
Point is you can't start the class action until the change is actually implemented. My attorneys are ready for this fight. I can't wait for depositions & testimony to start flying from Novartis . There will be a web site dedicated to posting every shred of information about this to the public. Every politician under the sun will be sent weekly update links. Novartis will NEVER have this fly under the radar no matter how much crack the former consultant & baert are smoking. OH & they better have a damn good reason they do this in the USA & not euro zone.
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The reason is decreased profitability in the US market. They have been instructed to squeeze every last dollar out of the US subsidiary.
 

































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