A March 20 Columbian story, “Teachers take a stand,” reported that a “Rally to oppose changes in way they receive health care draws crowd of 500.” Congratulations to teacher Tiffany McCormick for beating her cancer with the assistance of Kaiser Permanente, although she shouldn’t be disappointed with the proposal to establish a School Employees’ Benefits Board.
I worked as a school nurse in Oregon for 25 years and had Blue Cross insurance for most of those years through my employer. I also was concerned when Oregon passed a similar bill to adopt the Oregon Educators Benefit Board. Unfortunately, Blue Cross was not a successful bidder, and I also opted to change to Kaiser insurance as one of the choices presented to employees.
I have been very pleased with the efficiency of OEBB in overseeing the health care benefits offered to current and retired employees. Change was difficult at first in finding new providers; however, overall my health care options have improved.
I would encourage McCormick and all members of the various school groups to be appreciative of the health benefits they have, no matter what entity manages their options, as many individuals in our society do not have any health coverage at all.
