Riverside seeks to vacate arbitrator's health insurance ruling
The potentially precedent-setting case centers on a dispute over whether the merger of
The dispute arose in 2017, after a retired teacher complained her out-of-pocket expense for mental health treatment increased because the amount Highmark paid the physician -- known as the "allowable rate" -- was less than what
While the case involves a single teacher, it has significant financial implications for the district. If it loses, other employees could make the same claim going forward, the district's attorney,
"This case is precedent setting," he said. "The district is potentially on the hook any time there is a change in the allowable charge for a service ... That was never the intent of the collective bargaining agreement."
Highmark and
Despite that, arbitrator
In seeking to vacate the ruling, Poveromo argued Krchnar erred when he determined the merger was a change in carriers because the plan is still a
"There was no switch. It was a merger," he said.
He also argued there was no change in benefits because the Highmark plan calls for employees to pay 20% of the physician's fee, the same as the
"What the arbitrator did was rewrite the contract to make the district liable for any increase in out-of-pocket expenses any time there is a change in the allowable charge for any service," he said.
The union's attorney,
"
In order to overturn the ruling, the district would have to show Krchnar's ruling was not "rationally derived" from the language in the union contract. Husisian said the district failed to do that, therefore the ruling must stand.
Moyle took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling at a later date.
Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9137; @tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.
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