Health insurance coverage for striking teachers expires in December, and Portland Public Schools spies are taking advantage

As the teachers’ strike closes Portland Public Schools for a second week, all indications are that students will be out of school until Thanksgiving. But there may still be one force strong enough to carry out the contract: health insurance.

All eyes are on Nov. 16: If teachers aren’t back in the classroom by that day, they won’t be eligible for benefits in December, Portland Public Schools says. The district plans to send its striking teachers a packet on Nov. 16 explaining how to enroll in costly COBRA insurance plans.

Portland teachers have already gotten their November health insurance coverage by working in October, so these changes won’t begin to affect their coverage until December. But receiving a package in the mail about the transition to COBRA insurance could alarm striking educators, who have been protesting relentlessly since November 1 in the rain in front of empty schools.

The PPS flagged this as its policy in an Oct. 23 letter to educators: Coverage will end at the end of the month if an employee stops working or is not paid for half of the month’s contracted days, they said. -they wrote, indicating the teachers will be removed on December 1st.

The Portland Teachers Association says the deadline districts are threatening is wrong and in fact coverage expires Dec. 15. The Oregonian noted the dispute yesterday.

At a news conference at the state Capitol in Salem Monday, Jacque Dixon, PAT vice president, argued that the pay period that ends Nov. 15 provides educators with their December health insurance.

I’m not sure that this is really a factor that we need to worry about at the moment, but I am convinced that the OAS [Oregon Education Association] will take care of it if necessary, Dixon said.

PAT declined to comment on the matter beyond Dixon’s statement at the press conference.

But a review of the teachers’ benefits summary seems unambiguous: If a school employee leaves their job, their insurance coverage ends at the end of the month.

The PAT Employee Group Benefits Summary for 2023 states that coverage will end at the end of the month in which the employee resigns or stops being paid, unless the employee has not worked or been paid for more than half of the contractual days of the month. In this case, coverage will end at the end of the following month.

Teachers walked off the job on November 1st.

A lobbyist representing the healthcare industry weighed both claims to WW and concluded that the December 1 deadline appears to be the right one. If an employee doesn’t work from Nov. 1 to Nov. 15, even a truly generous benefit probably wouldn’t reach the employee before the end of December, he says.

He says these misunderstandings are common when there is a mismatch between a monthly schedule and a pay period schedule, such as at PPS. People are confused about this.

If teachers return to work after November 16, salary arrears will depend on the return-to-class conditions agreed in the contract, the PAT told its members on November 1.

But what if they hold their own on the picket line? It’s COBRA.

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) allows people to keep their work health coverage for up to 18 months after leaving their job. It is known to be extremely expensive, as members usually have to pay the employer’s share of the premium in addition to their own.

PPS encouraged all teachers who have questions about COBRA to contact the trust office at 503-486-2107 or by email at SD1@zenith-american.com.

The change will put new pressure on the Oregon Education Association, the state’s teachers union. The OAS provides a Teacher Relief Fund, through which members who actively participate in strike activities earn $120 per day. The union declined to comment on the amount of its fund.

The district says the total cost of COBRA for all active and current members eligible for benefits for the month of December is $5,118,784, the amount that OEA will be responsible for if they actually cover the transition from everything the world towards COBRA.

In an email to WW, OAS President Reed Scott-Schwalbach called the district’s plan to eliminate health insurance an underhanded tactic that could trigger lawsuits.

I want to be clear: OAS will ensure our Portland members have access to health insurance until they are able to obtain a fair contract, Scott-Schwalbach said. But the very idea that PPS is threatening to illegally end health benefits earned by Portland families in an effort to intimidate educators into abandoning the student-centered proposals they are fighting for is not only shameful, but also demonstrates once again that the district is not focused on working to reach a fair contract and get kids back in the classroom.