State Retiree Health Costs Loom Large
March 19th, 2008Fantasy sports leagues have been around for several years now. A group of sports fans assemble their “dream teams” of players - often combining historical and current athletes - and run tournaments decided by the statistics of the individuals on their dream teams.
Brian Greenspun has now taken the concept into journalism. Over the past two years, he has assembled a dream team of journalists. The result is a daily insert into the Review Journal that - while sticking to Brian’s tax-and-spend politics on the editorial side - produces some startling and generally unbiased news stories with unprecedented depth.
Last Sunday, the Sun published a must-read article on what will grow to be a dominant theme in Nevada governance over the next decade. I cannot recommend the article more highly.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 am
Won’t these people be surprised when they discover that the promises made to them were made by elected officials long-since dead? When our children discover the fraud perpetrated on them to buy votes with their money, I think the party will be over. Our own Revolution was waged for offenses far less onerous than what is going on now. Of course, our forefathers did not have Constitutional control over their Government like we do. They had to mount a Revolution….all we have to do is be responsible and take control.
I have a great deal of trouble dealing with this reality. Our Government is reducing us to a plebian society with our permission. “Change” and “hope” and “free health care” only work on a very desperate and hopelessly stupid people. Yet it seems to work in this country. To me, a slave master is a slave master no matter what “party” he/she comes from. We are children being led by children and the percentage who buy this approach is growing.
There will be a point where our children will say “enough”. You had your chance to be responsible and you robbed the cradle. Class warfare has already started. Clearly, our candidate of “hope” and “change” is a racist (he told us so just last week) and the other choices we have are a lying facist and closet liberal. When this generation of voters comes of age, I think they will reach a point when they discover that they have been “had”. I don’t blame them. My generation is the first in our history to leave this country worse than we found it. Can you blame them for cutting this obviously extortionist generation loose to their own devices? I certainly will encourage them to.
I think you better start endearing yourselves to your children. It may be your only source of support. We clearly cannot stand many more promises for votes with the hope that some later generation will pay the price. Someday the crime will be too large to ignore.
Our Constitution gives you a “right” to succeed, not a “right” to success.
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:10 am
The “hopelessly stupid” people that Steve speaks of are a product of the public school system (the mandatory government propaganda camps).
If you don’t believe it, read John Taylor Gatto’s “Dumbing us Down”. It’s authentic and an eye-opener. Besides, it’s easy to read.
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:56 am
Q. Why do state employees look out the window in the afternoon?
A. Because if they looked out the window in the morning, they’d have nothing else to do the rest of the day.
I doubt we need 1/2 the folks “working” for the state. My experience has been that most of these folks opt for public employment b/c they can’t cut it in the private arena where they’re actually expected to contribute some incremental value.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:05 am
So if we do plunge headlong into the STUPIDITY of a national health care plan, let’s make sure the implementation plan involves the immediate transfer of every federal employee, state employee, county employee, city employee and any other pubic servant from their current health plans onto the new national system. They go first and THEN, we’ll follow.
With this as a fundamental construct, I think the debate over national health care will take on a much different tone. In everything in life “It’s all about interests”. The above groups’ interests will never be served by a national health care solution.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:57 pm
If we take the time to look at what the automobile firms pay for their employees healthcare costs as well as what the State of Califonia pays their retirees health costs, we can then gain insight as to what lies ahead if Nevada raises its heathcare and retirement payouts!
The answer is NOT with nationalized healthcare, that is ineffective, foolish and a ‘cop out’ way of thinking. The real answer is to LOOK INTO the earnings of HEALTHCARE INSURERS! They raise premiums and co-pays as they lower fee schedules for the Physicians. They raise deductibles as they lower per diem payouts to hospitals. They increase advertising as they claim they are losing money.
Insurers advertise they will lend money at much lower rates than any bank. Why? That’s easy to answer. It is not their investors money the seek to lend, it is their own!
If the truth were aired as to the amounts of contributions made by insurers to every political candidate they support (and buy) the amounts would stun the ordinary average Joe!
The bottom line is that we pay entirely too much for our State employees healthcare and retiremwent funds! But, the Liberals will do all they can to have us pay even more! Although they will never admit it, they are owned, not only by MoveOn, but by the insurance companies as well!
Lastly, my son voiced an idea about the Liberals and contributors. He said, “Have every politician wear the LOGO of major contributors to their campaign funds just like a NASCAR racing driver does!” Hmmm..Now that’s a thought!
April 5th, 2008 at 5:45 am
Dear Senator Beers and others,
There is no question that there will be serious financial pressures on the State Benefits Program for retirees. However you and the other legislators and the upper management bureaucrats had the opportunity to do something about this problem several years ago.
THIS PROBLEM IS CAUSED BY SEVERAL TOTALLY FIXABLE CAUSES:
1. You had the opportunity to hire the best medical benefits Actuarial Consulting Firm in the country that happens to have their corp offices in RENO to solve this problem several years ago. The state benefits committee along with their friends in the Legislature chose to hire a “GOOD OLE BOY” firm from out of state where several of their friends worked along with former Nevada State Benefit Plan Employees. This firm would “Go ALONG TO GET ALONG” for much higher consulting fees than the local Nevada firm was charging for much less work and be a rubber stamp for the public statements and recommendations of the committee, legislature & Governor. The RENO firm is still functioning all over the country solving problems like this for other jurisdictions and entities.
2. Dentists & Physicians have for years perpetuated a shortage of providers through a bogus system of limiting licensees in Nevada. Physician reimbursement rates for procedures in Nevada are 60-140% higher than the same reimbursement rates in the San Francisco Bay Area or Los Angeles. Dental reimbursement rates are 150-275% higher than those same rates in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. All this hyper inflated fee structure has been tightly controlled by the licensing boards of physicians & dentists where they highly limit the number of new licensees that can get approved for practicing the our state. This limits the numbers of licensed Physicians & Dentists and totally discourages professional competition for provider contracts for all the major PPO networks in Nevada. Those provider CONTRACTS are the center piece that controls eventual COSTS to all health plans including THE STATE OF NEVADA HEALTH PLANS!!!!!
The State of Nevada is suffering financially because the upper management State Executives along with the Legislature and the Governor’s have gone along with this Good Ole Boy system for 20+ years.
Screaming WOLF at the last minute and trying to punish regular long time serving state employees for the complicity of the Legislature, and numerous administrations of both Political Parties who held the Governor’s office is DISHONEST POLITICAL Cover Your Ass!!!!
April 9th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I felt the need to respond to Mr. Parker’s disingenuous comments above. First, let me say that I am a state employee, and I spent 15 years in the private sector. I also happen to be a CPA. I carry two additional credentials, and received my masters degree in accounting from Brigham Young University. I have worked for large public accounting firms, and for firms in private industry.
I made the decision to leave the private sector and take a position with the state. I did so not because I “couldn’t cut it in the private sector,” but because I wanted to give something back to the state that has been kind to me and provided me the opportunity to enjoy so much success in my career. My skills and experienced have allowed me to make such a contribution.
The people I work with are people of high calibre and work very hard for the citizens of the State of Nevada. Unfortunately, there are those who feel the continued need to make those type of disparaging remarks about those who choose to pursue civil service.
I also happen to agree with Senator Beer’s arguments that state government has become much larger than necessary. I would like to see such things as the 4% COLA suspended, amounting to $150 Million, until the state has the wherewithal to pay for such things.
It really bothers me that some who have more liberal leanings tend to say “Make the cuts, but don’t cut anything that has to do with me!” The sky isn’t falling, we just don’t have quite as much as we thought and we’ll have to forego a few extras that aren’t critical to the State’s near-term functions. Its only fair that we all sacrifice something.