It's been a tough week for UAW retirees. They found something out last week that many millions in the rest of the country will learn in the coming decades: when it comes to getting cradle-to-grave benefits, someday there's a bill that comes due.
In their case, GM and UAW worked out a deal that is supposed to reduce GM's healthcare liability by up to $3 billion a year. The automaker has found itself in an unsustainable situation as they pay the bulk of the heathcare expenses for 750,000 employees, dependents, and retirees. (According to the company website, GM actually employs 317,000 people.)
With that ratio, General Motors is getting production from fewer than half of the people they take care of. Even the UAW had to notice that the golden goose wasn't going to continue to lay eggs, and they stepped up to help out the company. As UAW members only pay 7% of their healthcare benefits (compared to 27% for salaried staff), there wasn't much room for the union to quibble.
Then today I came across a Baltimore Sun article that notes the state of Maryland could have a $20 billion liability in retiree healthcare.
"That is a huge number," said Sen. Ulysses E. Currie, the Prince George's County Democrat who chairs the Budget and Taxation Committee. "With Medicaid growing about seven or eight percent a year, K-12 education going up, higher education going up, the dollars are just not there for the state, and I don't believe for any state, to take on that."
No shit, Sherlock. But, here's our State Senate leader on the subject:
Miller said he and others would work to prevent the erosion of benefits. If anything, he said, they should be increased because state employees have been hit with increased health care costs in recent years.
"They are scary numbers," Miller said of the liability. "But this is not a state where you have a conservative Republican Senate and a conservative Republican House and a conservative Republican governor. In Idaho they might cut benefits, but that isn't going to happen in Maryland."
Maybe we all need to move to Idaho then. At least there's some sanity in the state government there. I'm sorry, but all options need to be on the table here. Right now, the state (that's you and I, assuming you're a resident of the so-called "Free State") pays $300 million a year to service 34,000 retirees, who pay as little as $21.05 a month for health insurance and $35.36 a month for prescription drug coverage. Obviously, I don't know how "gold-plated" their plan is as far as deductables and such, but my thinking is that it's comparable to GM's union retiree ratio of 7%.
One Democrat who wants to, among other things, put many more people on the state healthcare dole is Doug Duncan. He came down to Ocean City yesterday to kiss the collective ring of the teachers' union, promising to help the teachers as they attempt to raise their retirement pensions.
He also placed on his education docket a measure to award state contract preference to companies that "allow employees time off to be involved in their children's education." Now, I wonder if that would hold true, for example, if Dad wanted the afternoon off to spend time with Mom and their homeschooled kids to go to the zoo as a learning experience? I doubt it.
And the teachers, as expected, lapped it up, some waving Duncan campaign signs. Of course, Martin O'Malley, the other Democrat in the race, was also slated to address the teachers. Meanwhile, Governor Ehrlich was supposed to send an education official down rather than make the trip himself. While the teachers may feel snubbed, chances are they wouldn't welcome him with open arms anyway. And Ehrlich does have better things to do like run a state, not kowtow to a special interest.
Maybe I'll have to ask Dawn at WriteWingBlog if there's annual conventions for homeschooling "teachers, " and which politicians show up for those.
