Nick got this ball rolling, but he only touched on one possible case. Let’s review a few more cases:
– School districts – Absolutely, positively nothing changes with regard to the employee, as the rest of the state picks up through H&DW the difference in cost between the Rolls-Royce plan and what the rest of us suckers get through that plan, and school districts all over the state take advantage of the public-employer-only ability to pay the 4% employee tax. As it would take the form of supplemental insurance, the total cost of insurance will likely be higher than the amount currently paid, even if WEA Trust is one of the providers selected by the H&DW to participate in the main plan.
– Other public employers – In most governing districts, again absolutely nothing changes with regard to the employee as said governments raise taxes to pay the cost of the supplemental insurance required to bring the total insurance up to the Bentley plan currently offered and take advantage of the public-employer-only ability to pay the 4% employee tax.
– Private union shops – Nothing until the current CBA expires, then it’s Katie-bar-the-door. A main sticking point for those places where the employee contributes less than 4% of pay to health care is the inability of private employers to pay the 4% employee tax.
As an aside, if I read the H&DW plan right, those still covered privately via CBAs do not pay the taxes.
– Non-union private shops that offer health insurance where the employer contribution is at or beyond 10% of payroll -In most cases, a reduction in health coverage to the H&DW non-teacher standard as private employers refuse to buy supplemental insurance without an upward change in the rest of the compensation package. For those employers that buy supplemental insurance, a reduction in the rest of the compensation package will occur.
– Non-union private shops that offer health insurance where the employer contribution is well below 10% of payroll – See Nick’s analysis.
– Non-union private shops that currently don’t offer health insurance – Those that can’t survive losing another 10% of payroll to government will go under. That that can will reduce compensation.
– Self-employed – By and large, they will disappear, with nearly all of the lower-net-income entrepeneurs (under $50K/year) seeking greener pastures outside of Wisconsin.
Revisions/extensions (3:55 pm 8/23/2007) – Corrected typos.
