Monday, April 25, 2016

How Much Is Your Job Worth To Scott Walker

By Jeff Simpson

Sometimes it is hard to tell but if you work at Humana, we have hard numbers.  

First some back story.  Humana is a $41 Billion dollar company based in Louisville, KY. and currently employ over 3700 people in WI.  As most things in for profit healthcare, that was not enough so they worked out a deal to merge with Aetna(a $48 Billion dollar company).


This merger means that approximately 3000 Wisconsin jobs(mostly in Green Bay), will be outsourced from WI and your health care premiums will go up.  Take some heart though, even though you will lose your job and pay more in health insurance premiums, The CEO of Humana, Bruce Broussard, will receive a golden parachute of over $40 million as a result of the deal. 

As Robert Kraig noted:

“It is outrageous that the Walker Administration is doing nothing to safeguard Wisconsin jobs or protect health care consumers in return for allowing this mega health insurance merger to go forward,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “It is deeply troubling that the Walker Administration is allowing big insurance companies to further rig the health care system against health consumers and workers.”
The Walker Administration could have blocked the merger, or it could have imposed conditions. Some of the conditions suggested in the letter from advocates for consumers and workersinclude:
  1. Requiring premium stability or heightened rate control for a number of years post-merger.
  2. Requiring that the merged company pass along any cost savings associated with the merger to consumers, in the form of lower premiums and deductibles.
  3. Requiring the merged company to enter the Wisconsin Exchange.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin further proposed that the new company should guarantee no reduction in its Wisconsin workforce. Humana currently employees over 3,000 people in Green Bay and 3,700 workers statewide.


While Robert Kraig is on the right path, he did not quite follow it all the way.  See as everything else in politics and especially with Scott Walker - follow the money.   

Gov. Scott Walker received nearly $36,800 in contributions from employees of Aetna and Humana, and from a Humana political action committee over the last five years.  The Walker administration recently gave a nod to the merger of the two giant health insurers.
Humana agreed last July to be acquired by Aetna for $37 billion in a deal that would create the second-largest managed-care company in the United States. The deal must also be approved by insurance regulators in about 20 states, including Wisconsin, where the companies do business. Then, the U.S. Justice Department must give the merger final approval.
Attorneys general in 15 states have joined a federal Justice Department antitrust investigationof the Aetna-Humana merger and another merger involving Anthem and Cigna. Wisconsin is not one of those states.
To our friends in Green Bay and throughout the state, who will be losing their job, just know that Scott Walker sold you out for $12.26 per job loss.   

To be fair, that $12 will buy him a dozen shirts at Kohls! 

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