MCH retirees: We have settlement signatures
The meeting is set for
A group of more than 300 retired MCH employees filed a lawsuit against the hospital in 2017 in hopes of reinstating their original healthcare benefits after the board of directors approved kicking them off the hospital insurance plan. Instead, the hospital funded Health Reimbursement Arrangements for the retired employees. The hospital cited it would save them about
Many of the retired employees at the time did not use those HRAs for fear of not being able to participate in the lawsuit. A judge ruled in favor of the hospital in April. The group then appealed, and in March the hospital board approved a new contingent settlement agreement. A final agreement was approved in July, which was contingent upon 90 percent of the plaintiffs signing off their approval on it before
"It's been difficult up to the last day," Meisell said, adding that there was not a process laid out on how they were supposed to submit the notarized signatures to the hospital district. "We've done what we were supposed to do. We've held up our end of the bargain and they're still trying to decide to do the logistics on the last day ... I expected things to be more upfront."
The settlement agreement approved in July listed 317 names and Meisell said on Friday they had 310 signatures. Of the other seven signatures, four of the plaintiffs listed are now deceased, two names were duplicated and one plaintiff listed was ineligible, he said.
"So we have 100 percent," Meisell said.
Hospital administration refused to comment on the settlement agreement after repeated requests this week. Board Secretary
Meisell said he believes the next step will likely be filing a petition and going through the legal process of dismissing the lawsuit.
In the meantime, he said some retirees need help figuring out how to use their HRA and hopes they receive that help before the end of the calendar year.
"It needs to happen sooner than later," Meisell said.
MCHS CEO
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