Suffolk County Dumps Vytra Health Plan

[Jogger1]

Anyone out there know what difference (if any) there is between Vytra Health and the replacement Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield?

Newsday ran a story reporting that the county will be replacing Vytra coverage in October with Empire, as Empire promised significant savings.

Will co-pays go up? Available providers decrease? Will referrals now be needed?

Anyone???

They are adminstrators of the plan. The coverage stays the same.

[Helping Hand]

Empire will do a better job administering the plan than Vytra. Empire has more participating providers in more places than Vytra does. Also, a number of docs were dropping Vytra because their payments were too slow. Finally, Empire has hospital discounts that Vytra can't match. As long as the benefits, etc don't change, this is a good deal. The only criticism I can think of is......if the County will be saving so much money with Empire, why didn't AME get a piece of it? That bonus should have become a percentage at least.

[jogger1]

So does that mean that referrals won't be necessary with Empire?

Co pays stay the same?

I'm sure doctors will change somewhat, but in checking the empire web site, they seem to have more providers nationwide, so that's a plus.

I'm a bit disappointed in the unions. Nine unions throughout the county, and none of them formally advised their members that this was happening. We had to read about it in newsday.

Along those lines, Mr. Levy sends e-mails and press releases out everytime he farts. Why couldn't he send out an interoffice memo to all employees advising them of this pending change and giving us the particulars. After all...he's the boss.

Referrals were never necessary with EMHP/Vytra

Everything SHOULD stay the same.

Why would AME get a piece of this? This is a from SCOPE which is an anagram and I cannot remember what it means. But health insurance was not on the table in AME negotiations.

Finally to her credit Cheryl did send out a post card.

Hate to agree with Levy but is seems like a win/win situation.

Why would AME get a piece of this? This is a from SCOPE which is an anagram and I cannot remember what it means. But health insurance was not on the table in AME negotiations.

Finally to her credit Cheryl did send out a post card.

Hate to agree with Levy but is seems like a win/win situation.

The unions agreed to actions that will save the County a pile of money. For nothing? Not in my world. Labor management relations is a quid pro quo situation. We give you and you give us. In this case the unions allowed the County to change administrators and save bucks. All of the unions should get part of the saving and the taxpayers should get the rest. That is a true win win situation.

[THINK ABOUT IT!]

If you had any doubts before, you now know for sure that Cheryl Felice is working for Suffolk County Administration, not the AME members.
Coincidence that Steve Levy announced the change in the Health Ins. administration right after you voted for a contract that funded the savings for all of the County without giving AME members any money for it. The givebacks not only paid for your contract, but Steve Levy's health insurance also. Think about it! :oops: