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An exterior view of Dallas City Hall in downtown Dallas, December 14, 2022.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
More than 30 years ago, when she was a rookie on patrol, retired Dallas police\u00a0Lt. Kimberly Stratman shot a man carrying a machete. The anxiety from that day still creeps up on her.<\/p>\n
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Doctors told her that rheumatoid arthritis and other\u00a0autoimmune problems that emerged later were related to the stress of the job. She also developed thyroid cancer. Those health problems followed her into retirement six years ago.<\/p>\n
Now, as the city considers dropping the health insurance plan that the Mansfield resident and her husband \u2014 a Dallas police SWAT officer \u2014 rely on, Stratman has a new set of worries.<\/p>\n
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Moving to one of the two remaining healthcare options would cost Stratman at least an extra $150 per month on top of the $736 she pays now. When her husband retires, their collective premiums would total add up to $25,000 per year\u00a0 \u2014 after a combined 70 years of service to Dallas.<\/p>\n
If the city cuts Stratman\u2019s preferred provider program, she may have to find another endocrinologist. Hers has managed her cancer, now in remission, for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Getting a new-patient appointment could take months. Stratman said she and other retirees don\u2019t have that kind of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe disrespect in how we\u2019re being treated is unacceptable,\u201d she told The Dallas Morning News. \u201cI know the city has to make changes. I don\u2019t like how they\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Retirees, employees and first responders have roundly criticized the proposal. City leaders say it could save Dallas taxpayers at least $10 million as the city confronts some of the nation\u2019s highest medical costs.<\/p>\n
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Deep cuts\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dallas\u2019 proposed $5.6 billion budget<\/a> closes a projected $50 million shortfall through job cuts, program reductions and the elimination of the preferred provider plan used by more than half of the city\u2019s roughly 13,000 employees.<\/p>\n The\u00a0PPO plan, known as \u201cBlue Choice,\u201d allows members to\u00a0see\u00a0specialists and doctors in and out of the\u00a0Blue Cross Blue Shield network without a primary care physician\u2019s referral.<\/p>\n The two remaining \u201cBlue Essentials\u201d managed-care plans require members to have a primary care doctor in Texas to obtain prescriptions and specialized care. One includes a health savings account.<\/p>\n The proposed budget also eliminates<\/a> the use of GLP-1 drugs<\/a> solely for weight loss and shifts from at-home wellness kits to in-office visits to earn the city\u2019s wellness incentive.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n During a briefing Wednesday at City Hall, several council members\u00a0asked whether alternatives were available and how the change could affect employee recruitment and retention or families with children who have special needs.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a way to find for them to have all of these benefits, that would be my desire,\u201d council member Laura Cadena said.<\/p>\n Keeping the\u00a0PPO plan could cause premiums to rise as much as 60%, although the increase would be less than $40 a month for some employees. Restoring it could also require job cuts beyond the 300 already included in the budget, Chief Financial Officer Jack Ireland said.<\/p>\n City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert reminded the council that they had \u201cchallenged us to look at ways to create longer term sustainability.\u201d Then she\u00a0challenged them to find the $10 million needed to preserve the PPO plan<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019ve recommended is not because we want to impact employees in a negative way,\u201d Tolbert said, but a change meant to “have a healthy plan and a plan that\u2019s going to be sustainable with the types of programs included to help our employees be well.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Skyrocketing healthcare costs<\/p>\n Dallas is self-insured, meaning it bears the risk when claims exceed premiums. Claims exceeded projections by tens of millions of dollars last year, helping produce the city\u2019s current predicament, said Shawn\u00a0Quildon, vice president of Holmes Murphy, the city\u2019s benefits consultant.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you couple those things with what\u2019s happening across the nation, but specifically here in the DFW metroplex, it\u2019s not sustainable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The remaining plans would charge lower-paid employees less and higher-paid employees more. City officials said requiring regular care from a primary care doctor should improve health outcomes, make care more efficient and help diagnose costly illnesses sooner.<\/p>\n Claims exceeding $100,000 for just 120 employees cost Dallas taxpayers $25 million last year, Quildon said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n About 1% of providers used through the PPO are not in the Blue Essentials network, city officials said. Still, Chief Human Resources Officer Nina Arias said the backlash was not surprising.<\/p>\n \u201cAs part of any change in benefits, you are going to see a disruption,\u201d Arias said. \u201cWe don\u2019t take this lightly. Obviously, employees do not like change. No one does.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Eric Johnson did not comment on the proposal during the council briefing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Makes me sick\u2019<\/p>\n Dallas Police Association president Sean Pease questions the city’s 1% figure. He said everyone he has spoken with has told him their doctors aren\u2019t in the new network.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Some officers have told him they would leave for cities that offer free health coverage or better premium options.<\/p>\n Pease told\u00a0The News that he pays $700 per month for himself and his wife, and he\u2019s not even retired yet.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s been nothing else that the city has done that has caused more people to say, \u2018I\u2019m out if this takes place,\u2019\u201d Pease said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Pease\u2019s wife had melanoma removed from her neck, increasing her risk\u00a0of skin\u00a0or breast cancer. Neither her oncologist nor her dermatologist participate in the non-PPO plans.<\/p>\n Pease also said retirees who have moved away from Dallas could face fewer choices under plans built around a limited network of primary care physicians.<\/p>\n