News from Civil Service Employees Association

For more information contact: Rachel Langert - 607 707-6711

CSEA Prescription for Savings: Town of East Hampton

SUFFOLK, NY (09/29/2008; 0947)(readMedia)-- Health benefits experts will explain the details of a prescription plan designed to save a significant sum of money for the Town of East Hampton during an open forum at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett tonight (9/29/08).

CSEA and the Town of East Hampton have been locked in a dispute for nearly a year regarding health insurance costs for town employees and this forum will provide precise information on the plan, which has the potential to resolve this matter to the benefit of all concerned.

“CSEA has been struggling for months to come up with an alternative health insurance plan that will save the town money and maintain our members benefits without increasing their financial burden, said J.J. Kremm, CSEA Town of East Hampton Unit President. “Everything we looked at would have drastically increased co-pays and severely cut our health insurance coverage. That's why these plans have been unacceptable to us and that’s why we have been fighting.”

“CSEA, New York’s leading union, had to think outside the box,” said Rachel Langert, Labor Relations Specialist. “We discovered an alternative prescription plan administered by CanaRX, which will significantly cut the cost of brand name maintenance prescription drugs for CSEA members and for the town and has the potential to save millions of dollars.”

“Our health benefits experts analyzed the top 100 brand name prescription maintenance drugs used by CSEA members in 2006 and 2007 and found that CanaRX would have saved the town approximately 52 percent of their brand name maintenance prescription costs,” said Scott Futia, Deputy Director of CSEA Health Benefits Department. “That comes to more than $496,000 in the last two years alone and the ever increasing cost of brand name prescription drugs guarantees even more savings over the years.”

In addition, CanaRX can only be used with a self-insured plan such as in the Town of East Hampton. So if the town continues to push for a switch to the Empire Plan, they will not only lose control of that plan but they will also lose the ability to use CanaRX. Years ago, the town had the Empire Plan but switched to self-insurance when the cost escalated out of control.

“We urge the town to consider CanaRX with an open mind and realize this is the best way to preserve the benefits for the people who make this town work while saving money for the town and the taxpayers at the same time,” said CSEA Long Island Region President, Nick LaMorte.

CanaRX is currently saving millions of dollars for 12 other municipalities or school districts in New York as well as in other states such as Massachusetts, Indiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maine. There are about 250 CSEA members employed by the Town of East Hampton and CSEA represents over 265,000 active and retired members throughout New York State.

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