Last night, by a 5-4 vote, Northampton County Council ended Executive Lamont McClure dream of a voluntary and exclusive health center for county employees. They voted down $3.7 million contract with Integrity Health over the next five years.
The Council members opposed were Tom Giovanni, John Brown, John Goffredo, Kerry Myers and Lori Vargo Heffner.
It was supported by Council members John Cusick, Ron Heckman, Kevin Lott and Tara Zrinski.
Arguments in support.
Ron Heckman: "I don't know if this is going to work ... I'm hoping this is an incentive and that it helps the employees."
John Cusick: "I'm willing to give this a shot ... ." To shut it down "is a little short sighted." He hopes it saves money. It is is not a new concept Beth Steel was doing it decades ago.
Kevin Lott: The alternative to a health center is to cut benefits. "This is an option that has a track record," he noted, in obvious reference to successful health centers in New Jersey. Even if it does not save, "it will be a nice benefit for employees."
Tara Zrinski: This will incentivize employees to stay with the county.
Arguments opposed:
Tom Giovanni, the Quiet Man, said that he consulted an expert, his wife of 45 years. She's a nurse and told him that what people really need is preventative care. "What we really have to do is educate people that you need to have a primary physician, you need to have preventative care, not white 'till you have something really critical. Hypertension, obesity, diabetes, smoking. That's all important things that could kill your health. ... I'm not going to support this. We need to teach people preventative care."
John Brown declined comment, but has spoken out against the proposed health center numerous times, stating the county should pursue other options, i.e. increasing co-pay and employee contributions.
John Goffredo: has been doing everything he can to look at it positively. "Healthcare in America is systematically flawed. He believes this will actually lose money while creating more government. He said employees are looking for better wages, not a health center.
Lori Vargo Heffner. Does not see enough detail or clarity. There are no real numbers. For one year, has received no comments from any employees seeking a health center, She said it is "insulting to hear the way this company presents healthcare."
Kerry Meyers: Thinks the emplyee survey should have been updated. If they wanted this, they'd be here.
38 comments:
John Brown helps screw the employees once again. My paycheck doesn’t forget how he raised our healthcare but not our salaries. As a longtime employee I’m tired of being stuck in the middle of these political games. They should all stop saying they care about the employees. It’s abundantly clear that they don’t.
When your only tool is a hammer, every problem is a nail. This is standard McClure/Dertinger tactics.
6-3 for it Bernie? Wrong again lol. I’m surprised myself at this vote as well as the Parsons vote. This council is totally unpredictable.
A rare bipartisan full stop. I'm pleasantly surprised.
This comment is in response to all 4 articles you posted today. Norco council never fails to make me happy and proud to live in Lehigh County. Norco voters - look in the mirror and you will see the roots of your problems.
Because of course that douche bag John Brown would choose to stick it to the county employees and suggest increasing co-pays and employee contributions because he’s a millionaire, and supports capitalism and big business. We ran him out of here so fast, his head spun. Look all around you Jimmy the cricket, unions are starting to rise up, and hopefully it’ll be the beginning of a revolution against greedy capitalists like yourself.
Not understanding why Lori and Kerry think any employee would reach out to them ? They do absolutely nothing for the workers just lip service . Just because they have a beef with Lamont we suffer with their stupidity and do nothing attitude . We know the republicans will vote no to anything helpful but now we can expect these two Democrats who we supported to vote against us , Lori will never be executive she’s just a wannabe!
Lori Fargo-Heffner is a disgrace and should resign immediately !
Silent Tom Giambi should have kept his trap shut and voted the same way he did in the RFP Committee.
I love this Brown-Heffner Axis. Lori has Kerry and Brown has Giovanni and Goffredo. That folks is your governing majority.
Commissioner Giovanni made an argument for the Health Center and then used it as a justification for voting against the health center. Is the man a smart man ?
Lori has been asked by JB to switch parties. She’s considering it.
Should have nixed the day care too!
I heard when John Brown runs for county executive he’ll make a Lori the head of HR , the stars are aligning
LVH claims she was not conflicted. That is only bc St. Luke's never offered a bid. Had it done so, she would have been conflicted. I also don't get her feeling "insulted" by Integrity. I never got that vibe from them at all. She also resents being told that healthcare costs are out of control, noting the difference between providers like herself and those who charge for it. But her vote hurt providers who were willing to form relationships with county emplyees and the employees who need medical care.
Preventive care is absolutely important but if you already have a preventable condition, you need care now. And I don't think there's a surefire way to prevent things like strep throat, pink eye or sprained ankles.
"6-3 for it Bernie? Wrong again lol. I’m surprised myself at this vote as well as the Parsons vote. This council is totally unpredictable."
Yes, Myers did a complete 180 in the span of one meeting. I also mistakenly thought Giovanni would support it. Finally, I thought LVH would support this, but think she (and Myers) are tainted by an animus for McClure.
Just so county employees are aware, this pitch from executives for an employee health center is an effort to coax you into believing they have your best interest at heart, but it’s really the start of cutting your county healthcare benefits in the long run. Why go to a primary care physician when you can see a doctor on a mobile “health” clinic.
Don’t be fooled by this this deception, it’s all about saving money, and we should all be adherently against it.
It's clear McClure cannot lead. This was quite evident during the pandemic, and more so now.
"Preventive care is absolutely important but if you already have a preventable condition, you need care now. And I don't think there's a surefire way to prevent things like strep throat, pink eye or sprained ankles."
True. Moreover, the health center would have provided preventative care. That was one of the points made by Integrity.
Per the original post, attributed to John Cusick: "It is not a new concept Beth Steel was doing it decades ago."
I guess this concept worked wonders for Bethlehem Steel.
I typically think highly of Cusick, and this could be the greatest proposal ever, but I have to question what he was thinking with using Bethlehem Steel as an example of why to SUPPORT the proposal.
Wooof!
I realize that you can't really bankrupt the county since they can always raise taxes, but it's not a comparison I would make if I wanted to see it happen.
"Just so county employees are aware, this pitch from executives for an employee health center is an effort to coax you into believing they have your best interest at heart, but it’s really the start of cutting your county healthcare benefits in the long run. Why go to a primary care physician when you can see a doctor on a mobile “health” clinic."
Actually, the health center is an attempt to reduce healthcare costs so that the county does not have to cut medical benefits by increasing employee contributions and co-pays. County Council's vote makes that much more likely now.
Council is a joke. It's ok for them to take a chance on a daycare at Gracedale to help employee retention and recruitment but they won't take a chance on an employee health center to help with the same for the rest of county employees?
I think employees were not aware a vote was going to happen last night. Council has no problem calling other counties to see what other commissioners are being paid and what other counties have for term limits yet they couldn't send out their own email or poll notifying employees that there was going to be a vote and ask employees if they would use a healh center????
None of them will get my vote in future elections.
"This County Council is a disaster under the new Republican majority," he said in an interview after the vote Thursday.(WFMZ)
He lies or simply can't count nine votes. Republicans voted for and Democrats voted against. NorCo is leaderless because McClure is so weak and pathetic and dishonest. Those are great qualities for an ambulance chaser. They are horrible qualities for public service. It's time for Mr. Ruddy Cheeks to retire on his bags of moldy money and let someone serious run the county with a modicum of leadership. Every day he serves is a disservice to county citizens.
There are a lot of options available for the administration to cut health costs. Why didn't the administration try to make a deal with the two largest healthcare providers in the County; Lehigh Valley Health Network or St. Lukes's University Health Network?
Another question if employees were so in favor of the Health Care Center as administrations says they are ,where was their attendance at last night's county council meeting to endorse it?
When Brown was changing the Health benefit for the employees in his term as executives, the county chamber meeting room was over filled with employees.
"He lies or simply can't count nine votes. Republicans voted for and Democrats voted against." The five votes killing the health center came from Rs Goffredo, Myers, Brown, Giovanni and Democrat Lori Vargo Heffner. I believe that McClure is implying that LVH is actually a Republican. Her vote certainly reflects either an animus against McClure or Republican sentiments.
What McClure was trying to do with the health center is both help employees and prevent some unpleasant realities for employees. healthcare costs are going up dramatically, and McClure is trying very hard to stop an increase in employee contributions or added co-pays. It might ultimately fail, which is why Heckman referred to it as a Hail Mary at one point. It could have succeeded or delayed this. Brown's view is to just shackle the employees. That's what he did when he was Exec. Goffredo agrees. He thinks wages are what matter, not benefits. I can respect but disagree with these Republican sentiments.
Myers has switched parties and is now a Republican. LVH did not but her vote against a health center is anti-employee and contrary to what at least two bargaining units specifically advocated. I don't know how much more detail could have been provided. She complained about a "super secret location" when she knows damn well that the county cannot publicly disclose that bc it would prejudice itself in lease negotiations. Her vote is, in my view, contrary to basic principles of a party that should be helping the working class. It smacks of more traditionally Republican views. Either LVH is a Republican or she has a real hatred of McClure that is so intense she is willing to screw the worker just to stifle him.
Bernie O'Hare 11:16 am said: "Myers has switched parties and is now a Republican. LVH did not but...her vote...smacks of more traditionally Republican views."
Sorry to contradict your twisted logic, but McSewer outright lied.
Myers might have changed parties, but he was elected to council as a democrat. The change was to further his own political ambitions and not because of some philosophical change of heart.
LVH is an also an elected democrat. You might disagree with her vote (or votes), but that doesn't change the fact that she's an elected democrat.
Using your convoluted thinking, a future 9-0 democrat council could all switch parties prior to voting for a tax increase and then blame it on republicans (as in the case with Myers). Or some bottom-feeding democrat blogger could claim that their tax-hiking vote was more of a republican thing to do, so the republicans should take the blame (as in your thinking about LVH). Either case shows the absurdity of your stance and McClure's statement.
Finally, you cite an imagined hatred of McClure by LVH, but you're willing to ignore the inflammatory and derogatory comments that McClure routinely makes about council. The latest are documented in the WFMZ article, and not limited to calling Council a "disaster".
Comments like this show an absence of tact (much less political ability) and a lack of fitness for the job of Executive. Council should be offended as a body, and every individual member of council, regardless of party, should push back on the comments. This should be addressed publicly at the start of the next meeting.
Otherwise, they're just puppets for the administration.
If it's anything like the countys Teladoc idea. Don't bother. Started out good but then the county HR got involved and it became useless to the employees.
So Schulz, it's time for you to prepare for a cut in your medical benefits. You can tell your bargaining unit that you didn't want to bother with something that might prevent that.
Sorry to inform you but I'm one of those long time employees that decided to take early retirement. I've never been happier to be out of jail. And the most amazing part of all of this is if you move out of the county, you can find real paying jobs w/ better benefits. At some point you might have to blame the people in charge of the county and stop hiding behind the threat of raising taxes.. Just saying other places have figured it out.
Jails and nursing homes don't make money. They take. If you want to be in the buisness of these places you need to pay. Or continue to have a merry-go-round of bad employees
Bernie, the point is that they don’t have to cut any healthcare, or pass down the cost to any of us employees. Rising healthcare costs should be negotiated with Capital Blue with the understanding that the county is one of their largest customers, and that they should be using that fact as a bargaining chip. I never understood why the county just accepts these rising cost blindly without fighting them. Capitalism has a funny way of always screwing the working class. The biggest advantage the county has always had is that they provide decent benefits, if you start to cut those, there will be absolutely no incentive to apply for any job here.
Anyone who disagrees with McClure/Dertinger are treated with contempt and disdain. They treats county council like a group of patsies. He is dictatorial and does not know how to function in governmental relationships. Everyone at the courthouse is well aware of their attitudes. Even union members but since their guy is on bed with McClure, they are powerless.
He is no leader just an angry bully who craves the spotlight.
"Bernie, the point is that they don’t have to cut any healthcare, or pass down the cost to any of us employees. Rising healthcare costs should be negotiated with Capital Blue with the understanding that the county is one of their largest customers, and that they should be using that fact as a bargaining chip."
That is already done, but the costs keep rising anyway. So eventually, and now sooner rather than later, county employees will see their healthcare benefits diminished. But Goffredo says you don't care about benefits. So there it is.
Shultz, I certainly agree the county needs to increase salaries and have consistently criticized Reibman, Stoffa, Brown and McClure for failing to do so. As your brothers informed me, the steps stopped once Brackbill took office. If salaries are higher, we will get higher quality employees. But we need an attractive benefits package, too. The health center would have made that possible. Now that will go the way of the do do.
Higher wages is the answer to getting employees? You can raise the wages all you want but when the cost of healthcare and copays goes up, the paycheck goes down. Ask any employee who has worked under Brown. Council didn’t vote based on what was best for the employees. Council voted to stick it to McClure and his administration. In the end, the employees suffer. They need to stop preaching that they give a crap about the employees. The only thing the majority like to vote yes on are the things that benefit them. The employees, that do the work that benefits the taxpayers are tired of being pawns in this game. We know where we rank on the priority list. And call us whining crybabies or whatever you want but in the end, without us the taxpayers wouldn’t get the services they rely on. And in some way and at some point in their lives, everyone relies on a service provided by a county employee. Sure we can go all go look for work elsewhere. And yes we know that what we have is better than what’s offered somewhere else in most cases. But maybe council should do any one of our jobs for a day. Maybe if Brown changes a bedpan or has an inmate attack him, he wouldn’t be so quick to want to stick it to us like he did for 4 years and continues to do now. Stop using us in your war against each other. We’re tired of being the kids stuck in the middle of mom and dad’s bad divorce.
Not sure if you are familiar with the way our health benefits work. If the employees were making more ,more would go into the medical benefits account. If the employees get a raise so does the pension fund. So does the benefits fund. We have the same blinders on that so many other places have had. The jail at least is going to have retirees making more a month then the employees. Lol. See how long that last!!! That health center was just the beginning to the end of our benefits with in 5 years it would have been our only choice.
And for all you people that keep bringing up the steel company why don't you really look into something you seem to know nothing about. The steel had thousands of employees at the time. Had actual doctors on the pay roll. Not PAs or CNP. The same doctor ever time you went there. But the steel also got rid of it when the employee numbers dropped, why you ask, it wasn't cost efficient. But keep bringing it up. Hey the steel had its own fire department at one time lets go northampton County lets get some trucks.
Lamont doesn't know a D from an R and his temper tantrum is delicious. Those who can't lead, simply can't lead. Their best efforts are rejected and shat upon. Then, they throw poop from their cage in frustration over their own shortcomings. Thus, Lamont.
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