Cover Story
What percentage workers pay of their premiums
Percentage of firms offering retiree health benefits*
30%
30%
28% 27%
63% 60%
25%
50%
23% 20%
70%
20%
40%
18% 30%
25%
23%
15%
14%
20%
18%
12% 10%
10% 0%
Public All Non-Profit Private Employers Employers Employers Employers
*Employers with more than 200 workers that offer health benefits to employees
5%
Source: Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, 2012
0%
Single Coverage
PRIVATE EMPLOYERS
PUBLIC EMPLOYERS
Family Coverage NON-PROFIT EMPLOYERS
ALL EMPLOYERS
Source: Kaiser/HRET Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits, 2012
Easter Brunch at Allied Arts
Benefiting Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford EASTER BRUNCH BUFFET >ÀV ÊÎäÌ ÊUÊÊ££> ÊÌ ÊÓ\Îä« `Õ ÌÊf{xÊUÊ `Ài ÊÕ `iÀÊ£{Ê ÊfÓx Tickets include a photo booth with Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunt throughout the property and a delicious brunch buffet.
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Health care
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as Stockton, Vallejo and San Bernardino into bankruptcy. Palo Alto is nowhere near that point, and the city intends to keep it that way, City Manager James Keene said in a recent interview. “The reality is out there in the world when you look at the bankrupt cities around the state and their inability to pay their bills,” Keene said. “We keep coming back to the fact that we’re not in that position and we’re not anywhere close to it. That’s because we keep focusing on how to manage these long-term costs and how we will get more savings or more cost-sharing.”
Today, bringing down the city’s health care costs is the highest and most contentious financial priority. Though the city has achieved some concessions since 2009, the City Council remains committed to a broader overhaul of benefits for the hundreds of workers who are covered. Some of the changes may start surfacing by the end of this year, when the SEIU’s contract expires, and next summer, when the police and fire unions are up for new contracts. The topic of employee benefits has been recurring since last July, when four council members — Pat Burt, Karen Holman, Greg Scharff and Greg Schmid — released a memo (continued on page 24)