100% “Legalized” Union Corruption
Kyle Olson, head of the Michigan based Education Action Group, has been waging war against the corrupt and powerful MEA (Michigan Education Association).
He found the mother lode of stories when he started digging into how the MEA uses a captive insurance company (MESSA - Michigan Education Special Services Association )to launder massive amounts of funds. The story is a monument to the power and greed of the teacher’s unions.
In Case You Missed It: Teachers union resists efforts to save school dollars
Hundreds of school districts currently purchase expensive health coverage from the Michigan Education Special Services Association, an insurance carrier owned and operated by MEA. Now many of those districts, facing large budget deficits, want to dump MESSA and purchase more affordable coverage.
But the MEA, determined to maintain MESSA’s stranglehold on the school insurance market, is resisting those sensible cost-cutting efforts.
In most districts, changing health insurance coverage would provide very significant savings. According to Grand Rapids school officials, the district would save $4 million per year by dumping MESSA and choosing the lowest insurance bidder.
Smaller districts have also told us how much they could save by choosing the lowest insurance bidder. They include Cass City ($200,000), Adrian ($372,000) Charlevoix ($230,000), Leslie ($140,000) and Bridgman ($240,000).
In most cases, alternate coverage proposed by school boards provides nearly identical employee benefits, at no extra cost to them.
But dumping MESSA is difficult, because the MEA puts up a fight. It starts at the bargaining table, where the union refuses to have non-MESSA insurance written into labor contracts.
In some districts, like St. Clair Shores Lakeview, Gladstone and Wayne-Westland, the union initiates recall campaigns against school board members who question the value of MESSA. In the Wayne-Westland district last fall, teachers even went on strike over MESSA.
In some districts, like Lawton, MESSA refuses to release insurance claims data from previous years, preventing competitors from making informed bids. That would be like asking a contractor to bid on a demolition project, without disclosing the size of the building.
Why is the MEA so protective of MESSA’s client base? Because MESSA makes a lof money. According to state insurance records, MESSA has amassed more than $350 million in excess earnings. And MESSA shares several million dollars with the MEA every year.
Can any supporter of public education tell me why any of this should be legal. Anyone?! You can’t. It is 100% corrupt and 100% immoral. It is union greed, pure and simple. Only an idiot or a scumbag would argue otherwise.
Tags: EAG, Education Action Group, Kyle Olson, legalized money laundering scheme, MESSA, Public employee union greed
