Workers' medical bills go unpaid (TAD - McCain's campaign stop)

[HopeHoops]

Source: Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA)

How does it feel to have health insurance contributions deducted from your paycheck and then find out you didn't actually have insurance and now are expected to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills?

Ask employees of Turbine Airfoil Designs Inc. in Harrisburg.

TAD stopped paying toward its Capital BlueCross group plan in October.

----

In March, Capital sent TAD employees letters saying their coverage had been canceled retroactively to Oct. 9.

Now some TAD employees face five months' worth of medical bills. Some have bills totaling $10,000 or more. State agencies are investigating.

----
TAD is along North Cameron Street in Harrisburg. The plant, which has a unionized work force, makes parts used in airplane engines.
It was in the spotlight last year when Sen. John McCain visited during his presidential campaign.


Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/125212201280490.xml&coll=1

---

I remember the big fanfare when McCain held TAD up as a model of free enterprise thriving under GOP policies. The fact of the matter is that they were already broke at the time. This situation really sucks.

[high density]

1. Stealing through payroll deductions

What a nice thing to do.

[tsuki]

2. That is all that unusual. I know people who have had up to 10 year

gaps in their SS/Medicare payments whose W-2's show that they paid.

[aher01]

28. Original Message That is all that unusual. I know people who have had up to 10 year

That's awful! How sad to know that the workers have been exerting time and effort with their every drop of sweats out in the body, just to pay for that insurance and yet, there those agency that takes advantage with it. What are we gonna do about this? They are better be sued.

rugs
area rugs

[tsuki]

64. If they can find the businesses or person, they can be prosecuted.

If not, SOL.

I think that may be why SS/Medicare now send those bi-yearly statements of earning.

One of my employees brought his statement to me. The previous year showed zero earnings (It was in the 90s when they were shredding everything.) It took me two years, but I finally got it straightened out.

[dysfunctional press]

71. a company i worked for awhile back never paid the fica money deducted from my checks into SS...

i found out about it 10 years ago, almost 20 years after the fact, when i became disabled. at my consultation with the SS, i found out about it, as well as the fact that i had/have no recourse, since the company was by then long bankrupt and gone. that money represented 12% of my lifetime fica money, and s a result- my benefit checks are that much lower.

[ejpoeta]

3. that sounds like theft to me. who's going to go to jail for this!! someone better....

and those employees should be able to SUE!!

[pattmarty]

8. Ha, ha, you're kidding, right???????? Sue, isn't that what tort reform is for?

:sarcasm:

[starroute]

18. I believe tort reform just caps payments for suffering

There are no limits on lawsuits for actual financial losses -- that's the American way, after all.

[Segami]

29. Maybe a ' trigger ' clause could have helped them?

:sarcasm:

[dotymed]

51. A CORPORATION HAS ALL OF THE RIGHTS OF A PERSON

But how do you put a corporation in Prison? You can slap its
CEO on the wrist and it's directors, but it sure isn't
anything like what they could do to a real person. Corporate
"person-hood" needs to stop. People before Profits!

[ArcticFox]

54. Amen

If a corp culpably kills a person, its operations should be stopped, assets frozen, for 20 to 80 years. In states with a death penalty, it should be liquidated, its assets given over to the state. Should be subject to 3 strikes and all that.

[KansDem]

58. Hey! I like your solutions!

Just subject the corporation to the same penalties as the individual!

Prohibited from operating for the duration of the sentence;
Fined just like the individual;
Liquidated in the case of the death penalty (I'd go one further and if evidence show a CEO knew what the corp did would result in a death, then throw that CEO in jail for the duration;
"Three Strikes"
Probation just like the indivdual..

I like it! :D

[mdmc]

46. welcome to du

:toast:

[47of74]

4. This needs to be made into a felony

With 10 year minimum prison sentences for each and every offense.

[Bandit]

6. You believe employers are OBLIGATED to provide you Health Insurance?

While in this particular case that may be true because of Union Contracts, in most cases employers can drop your Health Insurance anytime they please. And if costs keep escalating at the rate they have over the last decade many will do just that. America is a sick nation and "Yes we Can" just isn't going to do anything real about it apparently.

[morillon]

9. If they were deducting money from my paycheck for premiums...

...damn straight they'd better keep up their end of the deal. Someone stole those payroll deductions.

[life long demo]

12. This happened to me

My company went into bankruptcy when I was on the operating room table to have my knee replaced. Even though I had approval to have the operation, even though I was paying insurance premiums thru my company, it was self insured. After weeks of range-ling, they declared they were not responsible for any medical bills retroactively. I and almost all of the 250 people who worked at the company were told the medicals bills were not going to be paid. This was legal. We all ended up having to get our own insurance, but I was left with $64K worth of bills, many were worse off then I was. It's legal. There was no union involved so I don't know if that will make a difference. But people really should start to find out what companies are allowed to do. This happened in PA in 2003.

[morillon]

13. OMG.

That is awful. It's simply unbelievable that things like this are allowed to happen in this country. If they're taking your money, you should be covered, period, and I'm horrified to hear that they weren't required to make things right.

[xxqqqzme]

55. Something similar happened when the company I worked for

in the late 80s/early 90s. Only people died when it happened. There were 3 people in chemotherapy, the insurance premiums had not been paid for 3 months when it was canceled. Even though the chemo treatments had started before that, all treatments stopped. One woman tried to convert to cobra but she couldn't cause on paper it looked like the policy was canceled 4 months before. She died before the year was out. The other two people also died from their cancers because they couldn't convert or get insurance because they had - say it with me - 'pre-existing conditions'.

[laughingliberal]

14. They are obligated to provide the benefit if they took the money out of my check

You're damn straight!

[WinkyDink]

21. I believe the OP is about "this particular case."

[pdefalla]

23. They sure as hell ARE obligated

They took the employee's money and told them that they would use it to provide health insurance. From that point on, they have a fiduciary duty to use the money for the purpose that they took it. Otherwise, it is fraud, perhaps embezzlement, probably outright theft. Certainly a violation of their fiduciary duties.

[GinaMaria]

31. I feel the same about medicare and SS

when I hear politicians saying it will be bankrupt and there won't be any money.... If you take money out of my paycheck with the promise that I will get that money or a benefit later, you better deliver. SS and medicare are not entitlements in terms of expecting to get something without paying for it. These are things we've paid for and we damn well better get back what was promised. It should be illegal for government workers (elected or not) to raid these funds. Elected officials have a responsibility to protect these two safety nets.

[zogtheobvious]

24. You are right, but...

...if you are an employer, you DAMN WELL don't take payroll deductions for five or six months for insurance, then "cancel retroactively" on that insurance. Not only have you stolen from your employees, you've completely fucked those who have actually used what they thought was their valid policy to go to the doctor and now owe anywhere from the price of an office visit to potentially thousands of dollars of unpaid medical bills.

There's a word for that, and that word is "wrong."

[niyad]

42. what part of "payroll deductions for health insurance" did you not understand?

[BlueMTexpat]

60. Looks like another "teabagger." n/t

[ejpoeta]

43. if you are taking money to pay for something and then don't pay for that something

and keep the money.... i believe that is considered stealing. If they weren't collecting the money from the employees to go towards the insurance they weren't paying, then maybe... but they were taking the money and apparently just kept it. but everything is just fine with our healthcare system.... everyone look away.... isn't that brittany spears over there and michael jackson??

[dotymed]

62. I SPENT MANY YEARS

As a Union Carpenter. In our case ( and this does happen), our
Business Agents put a lien on the company's assets until the
money is paid back. I have seen them liquidate companies (it
takes years) but the Union Contracts, ours anyway) will cover
a certain amount of lapsed insurance (and all benefits) and
liquidate the company to retrieve the money. I have had it
happen to me (once, the company paid my benefits and kept
their business) and I have also seen them force a large
company into bankruptcy. All of the company directors had to
put up their homes as collateral during the process.
Eventually, they all lost their homes to pay back the
employees. THAT IS WHY UNIONS ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR WORKING
PEOPLE. Of course I felt sorry for the owners who lost their
homes, they still have money though, but they were stealing
from their employees and telling them the money was being paid
on their benefits.

[Wizard777]

32. It could be worse. The company could have pocketed their Income Tax payroll deductions.

No the IRS will not go after the company for that. They go after you and you have to sue the company.......if they still exist. So they should check with state and federal tax agencies to ensure they have been receiving the deductions for income tax. That might be their next nasty surprise.

I would like to add an addendum to the penalty. If the CEO got his bonus during the nonpayment period. The CEO should get life without possibility of parole.

[Ian David]

5. Of COURSE they were stealing. They were Republicans. n/t

[FreakinDJ]

7. The law needs to be enforced - Theft from Employees

or Wage Debts is one of the few bills you can go to jail for.

I want to see the CEO of this company "Frog Marched" and the employees awarded ownership of the company

[HopeHoops]

10. At the moment, they wouldn't want it.

Heavily in debt, not operational.

[UpInArms]

11. Here's a link to the McCain visit w/pics

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063002370.html

(second story down)


John McCain visited two factories in Pennsylvania ahead of a trip to Latin America, which will begin today.

PIPERSVILLE, Pa. -- Monday was Safety Goggles Day for John McCain.

Even as he prepared to leave the next afternoon for Latin America, the Republican presidential candidate was devoting himself to domestic issues, talking about the price of gasoline and the need to revive the nation's economy. Apparently, these involved walking repeatedly across factory floors in a Rust Belt state.

McCain started off in Harrisburg, Pa., at Turbine Airfoil Designs, a producer of components for aircraft engines. Accompanied by several top company officials -- owner and CEO John Walton, President Ben Frazier, and production manager Tom Garner -- McCain examined several aspects of the engine-making process. At one point, Cindy McCain -- whose tangerine-colored, waffle-weave sweater-and-jacket set was coordinated to match her husband's tie -- pointed to a grinding machine and asked, "Does this work?" Sure enough, the operator turned it on and it made a loud noise, which resembled a mix of an old-fashioned knife sharpener and an espresso-machine milk steamer.

At the end of the tour, McCain watched company employees unveil a red-hot bell used for coating parts that had been heated to 1,975 degrees. "There's a lot of heat. You might want to step back," Garner warned McCain.

The senator dutifully did so, exhaling with relief as he walked away.

After his tour, McCain said he had chosen to visit the company because it exemplifies "both the opportunities and the challenges that face our manufacturing base here in the United States today." Some of the parts the company was making Monday, according to manufacturing engineer Kevin Hile, are destined to be shipped overseas to Fiat.

...more...

[laughingliberal]

15. Any Arizona dwellers here?

I suggest a deluge of communication asking him to intervene on behalf of the employees of this company he visited. Or at least ask him what he thinks of this.

[thelordofhell]

47. If you think for one second

that McCain actually gives a shit about those employees, you are delusional my friend. If anything, he would probably be on the side of the owners.

[laughingliberal]

49. I am not deluded that McCain cares

I want people to deluge him with correspondence about the workers at this company he visited. Then I want them to send copies of their correspondence to local and national media.

[Better Today]

16. I only wish I could rec twice. This should be on the front page for days.

[valerief]

39. This should be in the President's speech on Wednesday. nt

[laughingliberal]

17. This is a perfect illustration why people who think they're happy need health care reform

We keep hearing about these people who are happy with their employer sponsored health care and they have been a big factor in weakening the effort. They are so concerned a public option will spur employers to drop coverage. They need to know a lot of employers will do this regardless.

[harmonicon]

19. jesus - has there been a better case made for single-payer universal healthcare? nt

[Mr. Sparkle]

20. You have to feel sorry for the workers. Hopefully they can sue to try and get some money back.

It also shows how crucial the public option is.

[WinkyDink]

22. No. A fellow American is obligated to feel ENRAGED at this CRIME.

[Mr. Sparkle]

25. I have to go easy on the rage today, especially after the Van Jones story.

I have had too many named removed post's from arguing with a right winger :mad: , ahem. But yeah im totally 100% with you.

[Texasbacksass]

26. I personally know dozens of workers that worked for Dallas based ACS that got screwed

ACS or Affiliated Computer Service a huge three billion dollar international firm based in Dallas and proported to be principally owned by it's originator and major stockholder Darwin Diess is infamous for it's company insurance provider Great Southwest screwing ACS's employees.

How do I know this? Because I was one of the ACS workers that got screwed along with at least a dozen other workers that worked in ACS's 7 Eleven Helpdesk division. Want details? Ask.

[Ozymanithrax]

27. The Corporate officers should pay...

all expenses from their pockets. Then, they should be tried, and if convicted, sent to prison for 1 year for each dollar they stole from people who worked for them in good faith.

An individual's health should not be held hostage by a companies bottom line. Capitalism and health-care do not mix. Profit should never come before life.

[scarface2004]

30. employer based health ins has got to go!!!

the time has come...national health service, single payer, universal coverage, tax financed!!!! aka medicare for all!!!!

[gtar100]

34. You are absolutely right.

It would go a long way toward fixing the problems of this country. Even the conservatives idiots would finally shut up after they realized what it really meant for them. Just ask any conservative in Canada, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, etc...

[Technowitch]

63. Amen to that

Tying health insurance to employment is nuts.

[gtar100]

33. Note the expectation - medical industry goes after the workers, not the company.

It was the company that is in the wrong here and it is they who should be held liable for all medical bills of its employees.

But once again, our health care is all about the money here in the good ol' USA. And these companies that want all the rights of person-hood run away from any of the responsibilities that come with it.

[Vinca]

35. There was a similar story in our local paper a while back about an EMT

and his wife. The ambulance company never bothered to mention they stopped paying the insurance premiums so when the EMT and his wife had their first child, imagine their surprise to get all the bills associated with it. Tens of thousands of dollars.

[Jkid]

36. It's grand larceny, plain and simple.

The insurance company's heads ought be tried for larceny and ordered to pay back the amount they stole to the employees.

[Ewellian]

53. The insurance company

didn't steal from the employees, the employer did.

[Jkid]

61. Then try the employer for grand larnceny

n/t

[ooglymoogly]

37. The chickens are coming home to roost....and shit all over the place.nt

[valerief]

38. Well, as Rep. Jenkins would say, "Grow up and buy insurance!"

Them that's got shall have. Them that's not shall lose.

It never changes, does it?

[sarah FAILIN]

40. This happened to us too

Except it wasn't really deducted from payroll, it was the payroll. My husband was working a part time job 1 day/week as a consultant just for the insurance coverage and they didn't tell us for 3 months that they hadn't had the money to pay the premiums. I was pretty angry but thankfully we hadn't done anything other than a couple of doctors visits.

[tooeyeten]

41. another example to encourage real change

and endorsing the "public option."

[niyad]

44. this situation demonstrates the need to return "hang, draw, quarter and boil in oil"

as a penalty (even though it would be an environmental nightmare)

WHY are the execs of this company walking around free? WHY haven't THEIR assets been frozen?

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE NOW

[niyad]

45. this situation demonstrates the need to return "hang, draw, quarter and boil in oil"

as a penalty (even though it would be an environmental nightmare)

WHY are the execs of this company walking around free? WHY haven't THEIR assets been frozen?

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE NOW

[existentialist]

48. That happened to me once.

The main difference is that in my case most of the employees knew, or at least highly suspected it to be the case because we all knew that the community college we were working for was basically bankrupt. Although it was in the contract that we were to be receiving health insurance we pretty much knew that the college was struggling just to pay our salaries. It was forced to close in bankruptcy, and we lost not only health benefits, but two paychecks.

Most of us kept teaching to the end of the semester anyway so as not to leave the students hanging without credit.

[DainBramaged]

50. I wonder how the owners would feel if they wound up in the hospital over this?

At the hands of the employees.

[dr_aswan]

52. Sucks the Union they are paying was no help...

TAD production workers are represented by the International Union of Electrical Workers.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1252184107300880.xml&coll=1

[benld74]

56. Please tell me this is ILLEGAL and will be rectfied!!!

[LiberalFighter]

57. Question: Were the officer's insurance cancelled retroactively too? I doubt it.

Or they knew it was and made timely arrangements?

[AncientAtBirth666]

59. These people are worse than the Mafia.

I don't think it's hyperbole to say that.


And the McCain thing just highlights how enthralled Ii am that that man isn't our president.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

65. McCain campaign-stop factory ceases paying health premiums, tells no one

Source: The Raw Story

When then-presidential candidate John McCain declared Pennsylvania’s Turbine Airfoil Designs an example of “both the opportunities and the challenges that face our manufacturing base,” he probably had little inkling that one of those “challenges” would be the company’s decision to stop paying the premiums on its employees’ health care — without telling the employees.

Until they received a letter from Capital BlueCross in March of this year informing them that their insurance had been canceled, employees at the aircraft parts manufacturer in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, thought their insurance policies were valid, because their insurance cards continued to be accepted.

But, in fact, TAD had stopped paying health insurance premiums in October, 2008, even as employees continued to see health premiums deducted from their paychecks.

In the nearly half-year-long intermittent period, some employees racked up health care bills of more than $10,000 — bills that they are now on the hook for themselves, the local CBS affiliate first reported.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/09/06/factory-ceases-paying-health-premiums/

[NYC_SKP]

66. Sounds like a slam dunk lawsuit to me. nt

[DefenseLawyer]

67. Sounds like someone should go to jail.

If the company took money from their checks for insurance it didn't buy, that's theft.

[Selatius]

68. The bastards who run the company are going to face multiple lawsuits over this. nt

[truthisfreedom]

69. Everything. republican. is. corrupt.

non-stop proof positive. They break the rules they create to control Dems, and then they collect the profits.

[LynnTheDem]

70. Thank gawd that company stopped their SOCIALIST healthcare crap!1!!

Those employees work...they can pay their own healthcare insurance premiums.

And if they can't, it's because they don't deserve healthcare!!1!



Gee, I sure hope those employees are all REPUBLICANS.

[freeplessinseattle]

72. and I assume the thieves are Repugs

since they welcomed McCain campaigning. probably some lame Rethug justification they have going on, too. that they're the "wealth builders" and need it more, or something.

[BR_Parkway]

73. The number of these stories in this thread show single payer would benefit business

as well - when things get tight for the business, look at one of the first expenses they cut. Obviously it's a burden on many businesses to cover health insurance for their employees

Maybe all these folks screaming at the town halls that they want to keep their insurance should be checking to make sure that they actually still have it first.

[Gman]

74. They were thriving real well under GOP policies

the policy of stealing from workers.