Fred Klonsky | Daily posts from a retired public school teacher who is just looking at the data.:
Fred Klonsky | Daily posts
Keep retirement weird.
Chicago Blues harp master Corky Siegel and me at the Heartland Cafe this morning. Just another Saturday morning in the life of a retired K-5 art teacher. It included an interview of Live from the Heartland with Katy Hogan and Michael James. My opening act was only the Chicago master of the blues harp, Corky Siegel. Oh. And I met the Cuban Ambassador to the U.S. over eggs and coffee. Well. He’s
The move to Medicare Advantage. The good, the bad and the ugly.
There wouldn’t be as big a problem if the timeline wasn’t so short. Illinois state retirees feel pressed and pressured to make decisions that have a major impact on their health and health care. I have been deluged with phone calls and emails and comments/ Trust me. If people are turning to me to get advice on what to do about health insurance, that is a bad sign. It is simply too short a time fra
YESTERDAY
A found poem for Bruce Rauner.
The following just arrived as a comment to a post from back in March about Bruce Rauner’s gubernatorial exploratory committee. The post was called “rich guys.” Danny commented and I thought it made for a wonderful poem. Someone that has helped fund the YMCA and multiple charter schools can only be demonized by people on left-leaning sites. My god, individual altruism doesn’t come in the form
Me and Corky Live From the Heartland tomorrow morning at 9AM. Should I bring my uke?
aturday Mornings 9-10 • on air wluw 88.7 fm • on line www.wluw.org Replayed: www.youtube.com/heartlandmedia • Chicago’s CAN-TV Live From The Heartland Show KATY HOGAN & MICHAEL JAMES invite you to join us for THIS WEEK’S LIVE FROM THE HEARTLAND SHOW SATURDAY • OCTOBER 26, 2013 9 – 10 am • LIVE FROM THE HEARTLAND CAFE FRED KLON
I’m running statewide as an IEA delegate. I’m an IEA-builder.
IEA President Cinda Klickna stood in the lobby of the delegate hotel at the NEA RA in Washington D.C. two years ago and told me, “You know, some people think you’re anti-union.” It wasn’t really a question. It was ironic because we were having a conversation in which I was asking the leadership to support a New Business Item of mine supporting the Chicago Teachers Union in their negotiations with
OCT 24
The in box. Illinois retirees. Don’t make rash moves.
Fred, A REMINDER that all professional insurance brokers have cautioned about making any change away from the State Healthcare Insurance Program until the terms of the new plan are known – you cannot go back to TRIP once you leave it. Early impressions from those in Springfield who have preliminary information suggest the Advantage Plan options may be good for most people. IEA is exploring with D
The in box. More reports on problems with UnitedHealthcare.
Fred, It’s not just in Florida. Here’s an article from a few days ago reporting that the same thing is happening in Rhode Island: http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20131021-unitedhealthcare-dropping-r.i.-doctors-from-medicare-advantage-network-poll.ece A week or so ago, they also dismissed a large number of providers in Connecticut: http://video.foxnews.com/v/2749230817001/u
United-health Care’s Medicare Advantage practices in Florida raise eyebrows in Illinois.
United-Health Care won the bid to be a Medicare Advantage provider in Illinois. The decision impacts state retirees who are Medicare eligible. So it caused many eyebrows to be raised when it was reported that United-Health Care’s AARP Florida Medicare Advantage plans are dropping patients with little notice. The United-Health Care Medicare Advantage Illinois state retiree plan is unique to state r
The in box. Kadner: John Cullerton is right.
It ought to be noted that neither Cullerton nor Martire is saying that pension funding deficits are not a problem. They are. They’re just not an “imminent” problem while the annual budget deficits are. Gov. Pat Quinn really hasn’t helped things by holding news conferences to stress that the pension crisis is the most important problem facing this state. If the Legislature doesn’t achieve pensi
Ted Cruz is right about Obamacare.
Ted Cruz is covered by his wife’s (pictured here) Goldman Sachs health insurance. I recently received a comment to a blog post criticizing me for having little patience for those who disagree with me. I gave this criticism some thought, as I always do. I decided the writer had a point and I need to try and be a more tolerant person. For example, I have had little patience for the Texas Tea Party
The in box. The Mayor’s budget address and his attack on the public good.
GRASSROOTS COLLABORATIVE 637 S. DEARBORN, THIRD FLOOR CHICAGO, IL 60605 www. t h e g r a s s r o o t s c o l l a b o r a t i v e . o r g PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 23, 2013 Contact: Nathan Ryan, Communications Organizer, 920-445-3920, nathan@thegrassrootscollaborative.org Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Budget Address Continues Status Quo Instead of Addressing Growing Inequality CHICAGO -I
The Chicago way.
. To truly understand Chicago and Illinois politics it is helpful to watch The Godfather. One and two. Not three. I never liked three. The first thing to understand is that there is no moral center to any of it. Abe Vigoda played Tessio. When it is discovered that Tessio has betrayed the Corleone family he turns to Tom Hagen, the Corleone family consigliere and asks that his life be spared. “Tell
OCT 23
The in box. Bev Johns on Medicare Advantage.
TESTIMONY TO COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENT FORECASTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY Beverley H. Johns October 23, 2013 Confusion, misinformation, and fear run rampant among my colleagues as a result of the proposed changes to the health insurance of those of us who chose to devote our careers to the education of children within this state. We worked many years for not the best wages and counted on our retirement
Fair. Progressive. Graduated.
. We never stop saying what should be obvious. Illinois has a two-part revenue problem. Those who earn to little pay too much on taxes. Those who make a lot pay too little. And Illinois doesn’t raise enough in revenue to pay its bills. The pollsters say words like “progressive income tax” and “graduated income tax” don’t poll well. They say we should call it a “fair tax.” Okay. But my neighbors a
Blogging without my laptop.
Halfway between Springfield and Chicago my cell rings. It is the security guy from the Abraham Lincoln Hotel. I had stayed there last night for the Illinois Retired Teachers Association meeting. I left my laptop back in my hotel room. Shit! Do I need to turn around to go back and get it? No. They will box it up and send it FedEx. I will get it later today or tomorrow. However my blogging will ne
OCT 22
Boss Berrios gets double.
Play the audio tape. A Chicago Sun-Times story reports that employees of Party Boss and father of 39th House Representative Toni Berrios was taped by a federal undercover agents. Toni Berrios is being challenged by Will Guzzardi in the upcoming election. But voting for Will we get double. Beat Toni and beat the corrupt machine, A real two-fer.
Just back from Springfield. Call now to stop this pension bomb.
Call your legislators toll-free now at 888-412-6570 and tell them to oppose the draft plan by the conference committee. The legislature will be in fall veto session over the dates of October 22-24 and November 5-7. At any time, the legislature could vote on a draft plan formed by the conference committee that’s just as bad as House Speaker Michael Madigan’s Senate Bill 1. At this point, credible
Congratulatory IRTA resolution to Glen Brown, me and other pension bloggers.
The Illinois Retired Teachers Association meeting in Springfield yesterday and today, took special note of the role that pension and education bloggers play in the fight for pension rights by issuing a congratulatory resolution naming me, my friend Glen Brown and others “unnamed” who provide constant pension information. I was both surprised and honored. WHEREAS the Illinois Retired Teachers Asso
OCT 21
Illinois retirees are just pawns in the political games of Cullerton and Madigan.
My friend and blogger John Dillon gets it right. As usual. In Illinois, nothing but uncertainty, anxiety and distrust. For hundreds of thousands of people working and retired. You say it’s not a crisis, Senator, and I quite honestly would agree. It is a debt and revenue problem, one caused by the diversion of required contributions by the General Assembly for other perks and programs. But t
Medicare Advantage in Illinois. Don’t try selling the Brooklyn Bridge to a retiree.
Since the letter from CMS regarding the Medicare Advantage details came out I have received lots of comments and emails. We are a suspicious bunch. Why on earth would that be? Experience! The wording from IRTA Executive Director Jim Bachman that was passed along today was that any doctor who takes Medicare must take Medicare Advantage. Right away I received messages from retirees who had called th
The in box. Skokie Review (Sun-Times) on S.O.R.E. action at Biss’ office.
The Skokie Review: SKOKIE — The retired teachers say they had a deal about their pensions and now state legislators like Sen. Daniel Biss, D-9, are trying to break it. “It’s like Obamacare and what the Tea Partiers tried to do,” said retired Park Ridge teacher Fred Klonsky, who is leading a new group called S.O.R.E. — Skokie Organization of Retired Teachers — to try to protect their pensions. “It
“We will fight for our pensions if we have to see our shoes.”
Outgoing Illinois Retired Teachers Association President Gary Elmen. IRTA President Gary Elmen addressed over 300 delegates to the 35,000 member organization’s state meeting today in Springfield. We are meeting on the eve of the Fall veto session of the Illinois General Assembly. “We will fight if we have to sell our shoes,” Elmen told the crowd who gave him a standing ovation at the end of his s
CMS letter on Illinois retiree Medicare supplemental.
Illinois state retirees have been holding their breath and many were fearing the worst these past weeks. Today Central Management Services released some of the information that retirees who are Medicare eligible and using the state health care system have been waiting for. For most the news will be good for a change. Although every individual has different needs, the news of the plan produced an a
Cullerton comes clean. “It’s not a pension issue. It’s a revenue issue.”
As I throw a few things into a bag and head down to Springfield for the state meeting of the Illinois Retired Teachers Association and the Fall veto session of the General Assembly, I’m checking out the Chicago Trib. Senate President John Cullerton admits that this is no pension problem. It’s a revenue problem. And where have we heard this before? It’s what we have been saying for years! Illinois
OCT 20
The Biss Exchange. Jerry Mulvihill: “22 years and nothing has been done about revenue.”
Jerry Mulvihill, Park Ridge District 64 teacher and union activist, was at our gathering at Senator Dan Biss’ Skokie office on Friday. Biss is a leading Illinois Senate voice for pension benefit cuts. Retirees from our Skokie Organization of Retired Educators (S.O.R.E, a chapter of Illinois Education Association - Retired wanted to meet with Biss before the Fall veto session which takes place this
Sunday reads.
Progressive Democrat Will Guzzardi (in the striped sweater) meets with Klonsky family friends and neighbors. Will is running for the Illinois House from Logan Square and the northwest side. Pension deal remains elusive. Management insists that management can run the trains on time during a strike. As a result, two workman are killed. From the Classroom Sooth. Street level view of Common Core. R
The in box. “So much for public input.”
Fred, It seems at the stakkeholders meeting on Thursday, Oct. 17 (at least for representatives of retirees in the CIP program, though I’m sure there was a similar meeting for “stakeholders” for TRIP), that SUAA bought into the everything is going to be fine, now that information has been released. As with the IEA whose letter indicates that simply releasing information (which CMS said they were
OCT 19
Retiree health care and verification good news? Not enough fruit.
You all must have been making lots of phone calls and sending lots of emails about the switch to Medicare Advantage and the issue of verification of dependent eligiblity. IEA President Cinda Klickna has send out a message to IEA members saying as much. She says that as a result of her fighting to get information, our efforts have gained fruit. What fruit? The timeline for dependent eligibility has
Keeping retirement weird.
Senator Dan Biss talks reform to teachers and retirees. I get up to let Ulysses out at around 6:30 AM. Then I feed him. It was still dark when I did that this morning. It may have been dark at 6:30 yesterday morning. But didn’t notice it. Shorter days. This does not make me happy. Yesterday our retired IEA chapter, other retirees and many still active teachers met at Illinois State Senator