Palomar College Retirees' Association (PACRA)

Judy Cater’s Remarks, June 1, 2021

Good evening. My name is Judy Cater, PACRA president and I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend after a busy commencement week. Congratulations to everyone for getting through another challenging semester and thanks for the ongoing work to prepare for the time when we may return to campus.

Congratulations to our newest group of retirees. I’ve had the pleasure of working with these fine people over the years so Phil, Pauline, Rico, JG, Estela and Jon, we’re happy to welcome you to our retiree ranks and hope you will consider joining PACRA.

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Judy Cater’s Remarks, February 2, 2021

Good afternoon and on behalf of PACRA and our Board, Happy Groundhog Day! We continues to meet regularly via Zoom and in keeping with the CDC and other recommendations, will not hold an in-person luncheon and annual meeting this spring.

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Judy Cater’s Remarks, December 15, 2020

Good evening. My name is Judy Cater representing the Palomar College Retiree Association or PACRA. On behalf of PACRA it is my pleasure to welcome Trustee Christian Garcia, representing Trustee Area 2, Trustee Roberto Rodriguez, representing Trustee Area 3 and Trustee Brian Olson, representing Trustee Area 4 to the Governing Board.

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Judy Cater’s Remarks, November 10, 2020
Good evening. Judy Cater here speaking on behalf of the Palomar College Retirees Association.

As we prepare to observe Veterans’ Day tomorrow, it is important to recognize the many veterans serving on the College staff, in our student body and past and present members of the Governing Board.

Judy Caters Remarks, September 8, 2020

Good afternoon. I’m Judy Cater representing PACRA, the Palomar College Retirees Association.

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Judy Caters Remarks, May 12, 2020
Good evening everyone,My name is Judy Cater and I am speaking tonight on behalf of the PACRA. We send our congratulations to tonight’s retirees, most of which I had the please of working withe during my time at Palomar

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Judy Cater’s Remarks, January 14, 2020
Happy 2020. I’m Judy Cater, President of the Palomar College Retirees Association or PACRA and retied Interim Dean and emeritus professor/librarian. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season and a chance for some well needed rest, relaxation and recharging.

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Jayne Conway’s Remarks, November 12, 2019

My name is Mary Jayne Conway and I thank you for the opportunity to address the board in regard to issues currently affecting Group I PPO retiree’s medical plans. I have worked full time in health care and education over 40 years

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I am an Advanced Practice RN Clinical Specialist MSN and served as both tenured Nursing Faculty and as an administrator. I have been a proud Palomar College retiree since July 1, 2015 after serving 25 year as Director Health ServicesCenters at PC while building and refining health services programs to support student success& learning and addressing general health issues affecting the college. I have also served for 29 years as a member of the PC Benefits Committee. I currently consult in case-management and quality assurance in health care.At last month’s GB meeting, I spoke to you about some issues now affecting a select group of retirees, Group I PPO retirees. At the request of President Trustee Hench, I am providing more information on this issue. Group I retirees are those that were hired before March 1, 1994 and have worked at least 20 consecutive years full time for Palomar College. As we have shared, our members are declining with several of our members passing just this year. It is important to know that these former long term employees have retirement contracts that state they are to
receive medical benefits equal to the benefits in existence at the time of their retirement. I am here to tell you this is not occurring with recent changes thrust upon Group I PPO retirees being moved to a Medicare D drug plan in violation of Governing Board Policy. This cut in benefits has not affect Group I Kaiser retirees and was applied only to Group I PPO retirees. It is also important to know that the 65y/o + Group I retirees, also currently pay several hundred dollars per month to Medicare that covers most if not all of the medical charges incurred. (Medicare B).

The change that occurred is that Group I PPO retirees alone were forced from SISC Navitus PPO commercial drug plan into SISC Navitus Medicare D plan with no input or shared governance with retirees. Both the newly assigned insurance broker, Bright Path with Self-Insured Schools of California, (SISC) and the district reported that the Navitus Medicare D drug plan would be equal to current coverage or better than the previous plan without providing any detailed reports from the blind pool insurance plan. We are hearing from many retirees that there are many problems with the new plan. Since implementation of the SISC Navitus Medicare D plan Oct. 1, 2019, we are finding more and more areas where the SISC Navitus Medicare D plan is not equal to the SISC Navitus PPO commercial plan. My colleagues and I are here to inform you of the many problems our retirees are running into after having been forced into the SISC Navitus Medicare D plan.

Steve Spear’s Remarks, November 12, 2019

A serious and potential life-threatening situation has arisen for married couples/domestic partners who are…

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both retired from Palomar College.If a Palomar College retiree has a spouse or domestic partner who did NOT work at Palomar College, the spouse/partner is covered as a dependent under the SISC Navitus Medicare D RX drug plan. However, Medicare will NOT recognize nor accept coverage of both spouses/partners under the same plan, which of course, would be the situation if both are retired from Palomar College.

The solution, according to Medicare, is for one of the spouses/partners to withdraw from the plan and have that spouse/partner added as a dependent under the other spouse/partner’s SISC Navitus Medicare D RX drug plan. Then Medicare will cover both. However, if the primary subscriber should die first, the dependent spouse/partner will be left without any coverage. Palomar College Board Policy 7380 states that if a retiree gives up coverage, that coverage cannot be reinstated.

This situation has already arisen with one retired couple at Palomar College. Human Resources has temporarily resolved the problem by putting the couple back into the SISC Navitus PPO drug plan of active employees for the 2019-2020 year until a solution can be found.

PACRA is aware of a number of couples who are now, or soon will be, in this same situation.

We are formally requesting that all present and future retiree couples in the Group I PPO be permanently placed into the drug plan of current employees (i.e., Anthem Blue Cross SISC Navitus PPO drug plan), until such time as one of the spouses/partners dies and then the surviving dependent will be moved to the SISC Navitus Medicare D RX drug plan program.

PACRA looks forward to the Board’s immediate response and action to resolve this very serious retiree health benefits problem which has occurred because all current Group I PPO retirees were placed in the Medicare Part D RX plan, effective October 1, 2019.

Cc: Trustee John Halcon, Board Vice-President
Trustee Mark Evilsizer, Board Secretary
Trustee Nina Deerfield
Trustee Norma Miyamoto
Joi Lin Blake, Ed.D., Superintendent/President
Michael Shanahan, J.D., Assistant Superintendent / Vice-President, Human Resources

Judy Dolan’s Remarks, January 28, 2020

My name is Judy Dolan. I started my teaching career in 1966 as a high-school business teacher. I taught at Palomar as an adjunct faculty member in the Business Administration Department for 10

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years prior to being hired full-time in 1982. After an accumulated teaching career of 47 years, I retired in December 2013. I thoroughly enjoyed my Palomar experience and continue to wish you all well as you work to rectify the issues before you!I am currently the Secretary of the PACRA Board; I will speak on behalf of myself tonight with just a hint of PACRA thrown in for good measure!

I watched, listened, and heard the testimony of GB President Hensch and Acting Superintendent/President Kahn spoken at the January 14 CCC BOG meeting—and, I was pleased to see and hear your confidence in getting Palomar back on track. What I liked the most were your words, President Hensch, of commitment, confidence, and community at large, to accomplish all that needs to be done and how it will happen among we, the college community. When Chancellor Oakley asked if our GB needed to be assigned a Special Trustee, you said you have confidence that we can resolve issues on the local level. President Kahn, your acknowledgement of the talented staff you have to draw from is right on—the brain power surrounding the resolution of our issues will make Palomar a stronger institution in the long run—and, I hope, take us back to the days when Palomar College was a leader of innovation not only in our County and State, but nationally as well!

I recognize that I as a retiree—and, PACRA, as a representative group of college retirees—are not members of the college constituent groups; we are, however, members of the college community, and therefore offer our help in a way you believe to be appropriate within the processes you have established. Minimally, according to GB Adminstrative Policy 7380, Group 1 retirees need to be a part of the discussion.

So, I ask you: as of tonight, January 28, 2020, is there any discussion among the Palomar College constituency that will affect Group 1 retiree benefits; if so, we respectfully request to be notified of and invited into that discussion.

Thank you!

Judy Dolan’s Remarks, November 12, 2019
My name is Judy Dolan; I have been retired since December 2013 after 10 years of part-time teaching, and 37 years of full-time teaching at Palomar College—an experience I thoroughly enjoyed within the Business Administration Department! At the October 8 Governing Board meeting, I spoke to you…

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as Judy Dolan, Retiree; I reflected on the lack of communication in moving Group 1 retirees to Navitus Medicare D Rx and the purpose of BP7380 Retiree Health Benefits and AP7380 Retiree Health Benefits.Tonight, I speak to you as Judy Dolan, the PACRA Board Secretary; my comments reflect on a broader issue—the stress that retirees are experiencing and sharing with the PACRA Board as they maneuver through the prescription drug maze imposed by the District; following are some facts accumulated from October 1 through tonight:
➢ Two retirees have experienced reductions in their Social Security benefits to pay for Medicare D; several are being penalized for late enrollment into Medicare because their names were omitted in the transfer process. The District has promised reimbursement for these expenses—to this date, no procedures in writing have been mailed to retirees
➢ Several couples have been forced to consider alternative prescription options be-cause of Medicare’s refusal to cover both retirees who have coverage from the same employer—please refer to the letter read by Steve Spear, PACRA VP
➢ One retiree noted frustration with the lack of an explanation from SISC as to what is covered under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D regarding drugs versus the ap-paratus to administer the drug: the co-pay for the medication that is eligible for cov-erage under Medicare Part B is now 800% higher than it was when covered under our Navitus PPO.
➢ A number of retirees have been frustrated by information given to them by HR, the lack of knowledge and/or response from SISC, and the additional phone calls they may have to make to Medicare for clarification—which sometimes is not clear or is inaccurate! I’m certain that the HR staff is overwhelmed with inquires—and, with no specific guidelines and procedures as how to proceed—are just as frustrated as the retirees!

The above is a snapshot of what PACRA has heard in just one month; how many phone calls/emails has HR received?? How many other retirees are being affected and not getting the answers they need or even know how to work through the system??

The PACRA Board feels a moral obligation to inform retirees of issues that affect their benefits and overall well-being, and to be a sounding board for their concerns. I wonder if you the members of the Governing Board and the Palomar College Administration feel that same moral obligation—considerations of right and wrong—toward YOUR elderly retirees, many of whom are in their 80’s and 90’s?
If you do, please take action on the issues now: what is your plan for resolving these health benefit problems facing current retirees? What procedures are to be followed for reimbursement? How can communication between the District and retirees be improved?
In closing, I have a statement/question for President Hensch: after the Oct 8 GB meeting, you stated you would like to follow-up on both Jayne Conway’s and my comments. Afterward, I approached you and asked how I could help with your follow-up—you stated you would talk with others. I may have assumed incorrectly, but I thought I would have received a response from you. The November 6 Benefits Committee meeting was canceled, so I was not able to learn any more from VP Shanahan. Will there be a response to me or to the PACRA Board about what you have learned?

A question to the entire GB: as of tonight, November 12, 2019, is there any discussion and/or action among the Palomar College constituency that will further affect Group 1 retiree benefits? If so, please communicate with the PACRA Board for its input!
Thank you

Judy Dolan’s Remarks October 8, 2019
My name is Judy Dolan; I have been retired since December 2013 after 10 years of part-time teaching, and 37 years of full-time teaching at Palomar College—an experience I thoroughly enjoyed…

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within the Business Administration Department!

As a Group 1 retiree of Palomar College, covered under Governing Board Policy 7380, I have been lied to by omission

In October 2018, I received a letter to Group 1 retirees from SISC stating that we were to be moved to Medicare D Rx—a complete surprise to me. Because I am a retiree member of the Benefits Committee, I asked about this letter at our November 7, 2018, BC meeting; VP Lisa Norman told the Committee it was a mistake and directed Michael Muheisen, BrightPath Consulting Services, Inc., to contact SISC that retirees would have no change made to their prescription drugs for the 2018-2019 year. The November 7 Minutes simply stated…Clarification was made that Palomar did not switch to the new SISC EGWP Program…

I naively believed what was said, trusting—but not knowing—that the District was planning this move for some time! Never once on any BC Agenda during the months between October 2018 through May 2019 was there mention of the District contemplating moving retirees to Medicare Part D. I officially heard from the District in a letter dated August 12, 2019, via Human Resources, that automatic enrollment into Medicare Part D which was ratified and approved by the GB on June 11, 2019, would take effect October 1, 2019.

I am personally disappointed that I did not think to question the VP of HR at each of our BC meetings as to any changes that were being planned that would affect Group 1 retiree benefits. Why would I?? It’s Governing Board policy AP7380 (Reference: Palomar Community College District Procedure AP 7380) that guarantees Group 1 retirees…will receive the same level of health benefits as provided to active employees and eligible dependents in effect on the date the employee retires for the life of the retiree; these benefits will be fully employer paid! And, surely, if the District was contemplating any changes, it would inform and welcome retiree input through a face-to-face meeting or webinar.

I am asking you, the Governing Board of Palomar College, that beginning with this Fall 2019 semester, you keep your due diligence to Agendas and be aware of and question any further changes that the District may be considering in the Group 1 retiree benefits package, minimally asking if Group 1 retirees have been notified of or invited to discussions relating to their benefits.

No group on campus negotiates on behalf of retirees; the Governing Board is the entity that has assured us by Board Policy AP7380 that our Group 1 benefits are secure—the Governing Board must legally keep its commitment!!