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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 1982)
Battalion/Page 18 September 22,1982 Income (continued from page 1) of the deductibles. Mynar isn’t the only employee who looked off campus for alter nate insurance plans. Mark Bus by, an assistant professor of En glish, said it will cost $ 100 more a month to insure his 11-year-old son. “And he’s healthy,” Busby said. “I don’t expect anything to happen to him.” Busby said he priced other in surance plans. '“At most places, I can get in surance for $30 a month,” he said. “I don’t want to take my son off of the plan because I trust the University’s backing, but for that amount of money I will.” Busby said he will remain on the plan because the state contri bution pays for his insurance. But Honea said the Texas A&M plan really can’t be com pared with other plans because of basic differences in coverage. Honea said newspaper ads say other companies offer com parable coverage at a lower cost. “But they’re not comparing comparable policies,” he said. And if an employee leaves the University plan, he or she may be required to show proof of in surability before being allowed to rejoin the plan, Honea said. Most employees have selected the basic plan, he said. But Hon ea said he has been surprised at the number of employees who have stayed with the deluxe plan. The basic plan includes the Prescription Card Service, a $200 deductible and 80 percent of the first $2,500 of covered ex penses paid. The deluxe plan in cludes the PCS card, a $100 de ductible and 80 percent of the first $2,500 of covered expenses paid. The economy plan does not include the PCS card, has a $500 deductible and pays 80 percent of the first $5,000 of co vered expenses. All three plans pay 100 percent of the benefits after the first amount. Facts and figures were stu died after the impending in crease was announced. But many members of the faculty and staff were just as worried about the shock of the increase to unprepared employees. Parrish said faculty members were unhappy because they were not consulted in the de liberation. “It is our money after all, and we deserve to be told what is pos sible — competitor’s rates, what they had to offer and what we have to offer,” he said. “Some say we got off as well as we could. But there will continue to be sus picion ... there will continue to be rumors, founded or un founded. More information should be provided to reduce that as much as possible. “Someone knew about it quite some time ago. Administrators somewhere must have realized what was in the offing. I don’t think it sits well with some of the faculty to be told in August (when a lot of the faculty are gone).” Honea said his office pro vided a number of facts prior to the announcement of the in crease. He said the distribution of information this year was no different than last year. The process to select an insur-. ance company began last Octo ber with the System Personnel Policy and Employee Benefits Committee, an advisory group to the chancellor, Honea said. The committee decided to re main with Southwestern Life In surance Co. and the chancellor approved its decision. The Sys tem contacted 489 carriers and six bidders participated — Lone Star Life, Prudential, Metropoli tan, The Equitable, Southwest ern and Lincoln National, Hon ea said. Honea said an increase was really in order two years ago. However, up to that point, there were more premiums than claims, he said, which resulted in reserves for the plan. But to keep a recently approved 5.1 percent salary increase from being swallowed by insurance rate hikes, the committee de cided the reserves should be used to hold down insurance costs. “We would have been in the same situation then as we are now,” Honea said. “One con solation, if you could call it that, is that we could have been paying higher rates for a longer period of time.” Another factor in the in crease, Honea said, is the liti- gous attitude of society today. Doctors are ordering more tests, and people want better treat ment because they know what now is available. years,” he said. “Now new machines become obsolete with in two years because of quick advances in technology. So they must be paid off within a shorter period of time.” It seems no relief is in sight for employees paying higher in surance rates. But Several orga nizations are working to keep the costs down. “In the past, a sprained ankle would cost $ 8 or $ 10 becau se the doctor would check it over and send you home with an Ace ban dage,” Honea said. “Now it could cost up to $300 because you may have to go to get X-rays, pay the radiologist to read the X-rays and maybe make a trip to a bone specialist.” Increases in technology also have raised costs, Honea said. “You used to be able to pay for a new piece of medical diag nostic equipment over several Chancellor Arthur G. Hansen told the Legislative Budget Board on Sept. 1 that requests for an increased state contribu tion made by the Texas Public Employees Association may be more realistic than the current state contribution. Billye Tate, president of the local chapter of the Texas Public Employees Association, said the chapter has sent petitions to the Legislature asking for a larger state contribution. These peti tions recommend full funding of the deluxe insurance plan for employees, both active and re tired, for both years of the bien nium, in the amount of $91 (» the first year of the biennim and $ 109 for the second yeai, Honea said he has been wort ing with other institutions ail the employee retirement syst® on a legislative package of it quests for cost containment n the insurance program. He the requests include limits some items being misused in program. Dr. Jane Armstrong, chaii man of the Personnel and Ee ployee Benefits committee, sa the committee will need futiii input as to what the employ# want to see in their coverage “I’m sure the committeev look at what people want, whs used and what it all costs,” si said. “Our main problem tt year has been that the costi dependent coverage went ii One of the things that is viable consider is to look at a dept: dent coverage that is less tin the employee coverage. I’m ml sure how popular it will be,It sibility.” it’s a possibility. Nuclear researchers charge adviser with ignoring break United Press International Unit NEW YORK — Fusion ener gy researchers say a laboratory breakthrough last summer could bring one source of unli mited clean nuclear energy into use at least five years sooner than had been thought possible. The Fusion Energy Founda tion also said President Reagan’s science adviser, Dr. George Keyworth, is ignoring the impli cations of the breakthrough. The foundation says Keyworth insists successful fusion energy is 70 years away when, in fact, the Japanese expect to have a prototype commercial fusion reactor in operation by 1993. Last summer’s breakthrough was the conclusion by R.H. Kul- srud, H.P. Furth and EJ. Valeo of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and M. Goldhaber of Brookhaven National Labor atory that “polarized” fusion fuel can be used for a successful commercial reaction. This was, at one time, be lieved impossible. The founda tion said if this conclusion is veri fied in sustained testing, the problem of producing commer cial fusion will be vastly simpli fied. The foundation’s magazine said the greatest promise of the breakthrough is “to accelerate the beginning of the plasma age.” This could lead to the di rect conversion of fuels into energy without dynamos and to more economical processing of ores. Polarized fuels for fusion reactions already are being tested in several countries and were the subject of extensive dis cussion at the recent Interna tional Conference on Plasma Physics in Gothenburg, Sweden. Keyworth, formerly with the Los Alamos Laboratory, told the Fusion Energy Foundation he considers the polarized fuel breakthrough worthy of re search priority. He said the funds necessary for testing are available under the energy program passed by Congress in 1980 under President Carter. Paul B. Gallagher, executive director of the Fusion Energy Foundation, said that under Keyworth’s policy direction, the fusion budget is $125 million lower than the 1980 act pro jected. Gallagher said that instead of serving as a true science adviser to President Reagan, Keyworth insists the United States won’t have a need for a new source of energy in the remainder of this century. Gallagher said it would be a wrong to drop other fusion re search and divert the funds to testing out the polarized fuel concept. Top Drawer from Basics to Designers Uvb - Mpficit - Lm - Bill Hm < Cdvin Dda - Ocms Pacific - Jackcy - Stanley - ■wlnr - Esprit - Jonkcka - nijMn.' On Sale In the MSC T uesday-Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m, FREE CORPS DELIVER! Support your Student Floral Concessions You read it: *004^ MSC Town Hall presents o 9o co^ Z 0 & Thursday (Sept. 23) Noon - 12:45 Between the Academic Bldg, and the Library A promotion for: SCVPOGYPA Friday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. Rudder Auditorium Meet Don Scott Marable Jam jlayei He ige of ngs h doesn Bu of th< policy Athlet Coach the be !r •rofes « wa Sherri practii game. Dr counsi men a glamo and th mics a studei studei She helps dent-a “It handl Sherri G He’s Your On-Campus Beer Expert. Whenever the subject is beer or social events, Don’s the one to call. Maybe, it’s four days before your fraternity or dorm “Casino Night” and you need advice on how much beer to have, how to get it and how to serve it, call Don. Don is your Coors Campus Rep. Not only he personally assist you in planning your social event, but he can also direct you to all the Coors beer you need to ensure it’s a hit. Call Don, your Coors Rep at 696-6818. Coors made for the way Aggies really like it. 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