Dr. Rodney A. Erickson, President201 Old Main

Dr. Rodney A. Erickson, President201 Old Main

ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity University Park, PA16802

September 17, 2013Dear PresidentErickson:

We writetoreport thatduring today’s meeting ofthePennStateAltoonaFacultySenate,Altoona Senators expressed their strong disapproval of theTake CareofYourHealthinitiative.Inadditiontoourconcernsabouttheprogramitself, we find that its implementation has beenunacceptable. We are deeply dismayed by the lack of transparency and trivial forms ofconsultationdisplayedduringtheimplementation ofthe initiative, whichresulted in a completebreakdown of shared governance. On our campus, faculty and staff morale has suffered and trustinhigherlevelsof administration hasbeen reduced. Thus, we join our fellow Senators fromPennState Abington and Penn State Hazletonin voicing our concerns about theTake Care of Your Healthinitiativeand respond to Penn State Abington Faculty Senate’smotion. Our colleagues atour sister institutions have thus far described a number ofcritical issues with the program and theprocesses through which it was implemented, and we agreewithourfellowSenatorsonthesematters.

At our meeting this afternoon, colleagues raisedconcernsthatechothosecommentsfoundbySenatorsatother campuses. Theseconcerns included: Senators were not convinced of the basiclegalityofthe initiative; weraised questions about its effectiveness in achieving its stated goals;wehaveseriousdoubtsthatourdatawillbesufficiently secure; and faculty voiced a strongpreference for lessintrusive methods for promoting ourhealth.

Inadditiontothoseconcerns,ourSenators raised a number ofadditionalissuesworthyofyourconsideration. Theyareasfollows:

First,the$100feefornot participating intheinitiative raises anissueof basic fairness.As employees, ourhealthinsurance premiums arebasedonoursalaries,andwebelievethatthispromotes basicfairness among employees; however, the$100penaltyisconstantacrossemployees. Thisbeingthecase,thecostofthefee is far more significant for some employees

thanothers,crucially,oftento employees with the lowestjobsecurityandthose without accessto the processes of shared governance.

Second, while participation in thewellnessinitiativeis portrayed as voluntary, itisinfactcoerciveinnature,and,seeingthis,concerned Senatorsindicatedthattheinitiativecould make ithardertoretaintop-quality employees. Giventhatsalaryandbenefitsareoften combined whenthinkingaboutone’searnings,injurytoour health care programming of any sort jeopardize ourability to retain and attract the mostcompetitiveandcompetentfacultyandstaff.

Third, beyond the fees associated with theTakeCareofYourHealthinitiative, Senators raisedconcernsaboutanewfee.Thissecond$100 monthly fee is for employees whose spousesare employedfull-time at places that allow themto purchase health care, but would prefer tocontinuetobecoveredunderthesame family plan as their Penn State spouse and children. Thishasbeendeceptivelydescribedasan“option” whenclearlyitwouldbe more expensive and increase deductibles. Therefore itisapaycutof1-5percent,dependingonthe employee’ssalary.Thisnewfeearbitrarily andunfairlyonlytargetsa minority ofemployeeswhosespousesare employed full-time. Itdoesnotaffectspouses whodonotwork,spouseswhowork part-time,spouseswhoareindependentcontractors,orspouseswhoare employed atPennState.Itshouldbe remembered thatspousesoftensacrificethe opportunity to work in larger markets whenfollowing their significant other to Penn State. As stated above, talentedfacultyand staffcandidates willlikely take thisinto consideration in the context of salaryand benefits. Hence,this fee hurts Penn State’s competitiveness. It isanarbitraryandunfair penalty and should beeliminated.

Fourth, Senators identified differences betweenthoseprivacy assurances sent fromyouroffice and fromHighmark on the one hand and theprivacypolicywewererequiredtosignwhensubmitting to the biometricscreening on the other. While the former suggested solid protectionsof our data consistent with basic privacy rights, the latter described—much to our chagrin—limited or nonexistent protections. Given that employees who refused to sign the privacy policyatthe time ofscreeningwerenotallowedto participate, despitetheobviousincongruencewithyour assurances, we conclude that during biometric screening employee privacywasbeingdirectly exchanged to avoid additional fees. It is important to note that theseincongruencies werenot resolved before the end ofthebio-screeningprocess.Thus,theonly way toavoidthefeewasto submit to bio-screening in a contextwhereourprivacyrightswereunclear.

Fifth, some Senators expresseddoubts about the accuracy of the results fromthebiometric screenings,resultswhich were significantly atoddswiththosereceivedatadoctor’soffice. Because screening results were used toprovide employees with lifestyle-changing advicebasedontheirresults,itis imperative thattheseresults be of the highest quality. Further, giventhat biometric screeningwasconductedbyan outside firmcontracted by Highmark, questionsraisedaboutqualitycontrolonly raise further concerns about Highmarkjudgment in thesematters.

Sixth,andofparticularimportance to our faculty and staff,issues were raisedabouttherecent sale of the Altoona Regional Hospital toUPMC.WeunderstandthatUPMCand

Highmark do not currently have a contract, leaving our employees with significant concernsabout access to quality, local hospital care in Altoona.

Finally, given that some scholarly evidencequestionsthe economic benefits associatedwithwellness programs, ourSenateexpressedsignificantconcernsabout the University’srelianceon Highmark asasourceforadviceonhow to reduce health costs while promotinggeneralhealth. Some Senatorswentasfaras to questionwhether it was time to rethink theUniversity’s relationship with Highmark and examinecompetitive bids fromalternate providers.

In light of all of these concerns, wecannotfailtoconcludethattheprocesscreatingthisinitiativeaswellastheprogramitselfis fatally flawed and, thus, we concur with our fellow Senators at AbingtonandHazleton,inthat:

weinsistthattheUniversityend,ordelay, implementation ofthe Take Care of YourHealthinitiative, and that the Universityadministration workwith employees ofallconstituencies in a collaborativefashion by creating atruly representative task force todevelop more equitable and less intrusive strategies to containhealthcarecosts.

Sincerely,

ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversityAltoonaCollegeFacultySenate cc:

David Gray, Senior Vice President for Finance

SusanMcGarryBasso, Vice-President for Human ResourcesBrent Yarnal, President, UniversityFaculty Senate

IraRopson,Chair,Senate Committee onFacultyBenefits

Martha Aynardi, Chair,JointCommittee on Insurance and BenefitsRegis W. Becker, University Ethics Officer

RogerEgolf,Co-chair,University Faculty Senate Commonwealth Campus CaucusJames Ruiz, Co-chair, UniversityFaculty Senate Commonwealth Campus CaucusLori J. Bechtel-Wherry,Chancellor Dean,PennStateAltoona

Kenneth A. Womack, Senior Associate Deanfor Academic Affairs,PennState AltoonaWilliamCromar, President, Penn State Abington Faculty Senate

WilliamJ. White, President, PennState Altoona Faculty SenateShannon Hawkins, Chair, Penn StateAltoona Staff AdvisoryCouncilTiffany MacQuarrie, President, PennState Beaver Faculty Senate Robert Forrey, President, Penn State Berks Faculty Senate

Maureen Fielding, President, Penn State Brandywine FacultySenateJohnTolle,President,PennState Dubois FacultySenate

ZacharyIrwin, President, PennStateErie FacultySenate

C.Michael Comiskey, President, PennStateFayetteFacultySenate

Mildred Mickle, President, Penn State Greater Allegheny Faculty Senate Jane Waitkus, President,PennStateHazletonFacultySenate

Catherine Rios, President, PennState Harrisburg Faculty Senate

Mary Hutchinson, President, Penn StateLehighValleyFacultySenate Jacqueline Schwab, President, PennStateMontAltoFacultySenateGary Heberling, President, Penn State New Kensington Faculty SenateNicole Andel, President, Penn State Schuylkill Faculty Senate

Philip Nash,President, Penn State ShenangoFaculty SenateFrancis Derby, President, Penn State Wilkes-Barre Faculty Senate

Majid Chatsaz,President, Penn StateWorthingtonScrantonFacultySenateSukhdeepGill, President, PennStateYorkFacultySenate