Anti-Competitive Practices of WEA's Health Insurance Arm

The teachers' union (WEA) has a health insurance relative.

That health insurance relative is the high-cost provider. And if a school district seeks competitive bids for a health insurance package, WEA plays nasty.

“In seeking meaningful bids from such insurance carriers, a school district often must provide
the district’s medical claims experience. As such, it is necessary for the school district to obtain
its claims experience from the district’s current health provider.

“For those districts participating in WEA Trust’s health insurance pools, WEA has a practice
of ousting school districts from the health insurance pool when a district requests its individual
medical claims experience. Elimination from the pool means that that district’s premiums are
determined based on the district’s individual claims experience, which could cause insurance
premiums to increase dramatically.

“Many school districts choose to avoid the risk of significantly increasing their insurance
costs. As a result, such districts are forced to remain (with WEA Trust) without knowing
whether less costly health insurance is available.” --Lathrop & Clark, attorneys-at-law. (See PP 12-13 in PDF pagination.)

That's not all. WEA also will withhold claims information from the districts, meaning that another bidder must "bid blind"--not knowing what the claims history has been.

Needless to say, other insurers are not enthused.

Jo also points out the cost differences, which are large.

And yes, that's Jim Doyle's handiwork.