Update: The healthcare petition was sent to President Napolitano on April 7, 2015. It generated 2,611 signatures, the vast majority senate faculty. We hear that the plans have been postponed, perhaps indefinitely. We would like to think our efforts played a role in their pushback. We hope that the energy and concern generated this time can be sustained in the future, should it become necessary to mobilize again.
The original announcement and call for signatures is below:
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Dear Faculty Colleague,
As you may be aware, the University of California is considering restructuring the provision of medical plans for its employees across the ten campuses of the system. These changes would have a dramatic impact upon the health care options currently available to faculty and other UC employees. In brief, the plan is to create a new UC Care HMO program that will replace Health Net and possibly Kaiser. The aim is to generate savings for the university by forcing UC employees into a monopoly healthcare system that will be both less convenient and more expensive to use, as well as cause severe inequities of provision between campuses.
More details can be found in a letter that the CUCFA Board (CUCFA is the systemwide organization of faculty associations that the Berkeley Faculty Association belongs to) has written and plans to send to President Napolitano, asking her to undertake serious study of the manifold consequences of this plan and to make transparent the financial projections driving it. We would like for faculty to add their names to this letter so that President Napolitano sees how important these health care options are to us. If you are a UC faculty member, please add your name to the letter by visiting: