‘It scares me.’ Mount Nittany union workers’ health insurance revoked during strike

At a “labor tailgate” held Wednesday by striking Mount Nittany Medical Center employees, speakers took aim at the health system terminating healthcare benefits for more than 900 workers on strike.

The event, which featured speakers including U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, followed Mount Nittany’s official revocation of healthcare benefits from workers participating in the planned five-day strike.

“Mount Nittany executives are not doing this because they have to. They’re doing it because they want to punish us for standing up for our community,” Josh Rosefsky, a maintenance worker and union officer, said from atop a pickup truck bed.

A Mount Nittany Medical Center spokesperson wrote in an email to the Centre Daily Times that affected employees were sent two emails — one on July 9, hours before the health system received the official strike notice, and another on July 15 — outlining that benefits would terminate effective 11:59 p.m. the first day of the strike and be reinstated when the strike ended.

“Under Mount Nittany Medical Center’s benefit plans, coverage ends effective the day following an employee’s last day of benefit eligibility,” one of the emails to employees read. “Participation in a strike is considered a voluntary reduction in hours, similar to a personal leave or educational leave, and is therefore treated as a COBRA qualifying event.”

Hope Jasper, a nurse, said she assumed Mount Nittany’s warnings were mere “tactics.”

“As a nurse, it scares me that there are over now 1,000 people, likely, that don’t have insurance,” Jasper said, noting that many insured workers share plans with family members.

On Tuesday night, workers communicated over text and on social media, saying they had officially lost coverage. Jasper confirmed her healthcare coverage had been revoked Wednesday morning, through the insurance company Highmark’s mobile app.

“We understand this is a significant decision for our employees and their families,” Mount Nittany wrote in the July 9 email sent to workers. “Our goal remains to reach a fair and sustainable agreement that supports our employees while preserving Mount Nittany health as an independent, community-governed health system.”

The hospital plans to automatically reinsure workers on Aug. 1, when the strike ends.

For Jasper’s family, that coverage is urgent. Her husband has an incurable form of lymphoma, and after relapsing this summer, decided with Jasper to postpone treatment until after the strike, with an infusion scheduled for next Thursday.

The planned five-day strike started Monday, with hundreds of workers and community members gathering at the corner of East Park Drive and Hospital Avenue to picket. After failed negotiations, workers are demanding better pay and working conditions.

Speakers at Wednesday’s event emphasized those demands as they condemned Mount Nittany for revoking benefits from workers.

Shai McGowan, president of the State College Area Education Association, called on hospital executives to continue negotiations.

“Do the right thing and return to the table,” McGowan said.

The next round of negotiations is set for Monday, Aug 3.

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