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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kevin Shea who wrote (17685)	1/29/2004 10:45:19 AM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 48461

DOWN damn it CC

To: Kevin Shea who wrote (17685)	1/29/2004 10:49:43 AM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

Not at this time...

To: Kevin Shea who wrote (17685)	1/29/2004 1:45:07 PM
From: Bucky Katt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 48461

Tower retirees' health cost soaring Some premiums jump past $1,000 a month By THOMAS CONTENT and JOE MANNING tcontent@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 28, 2004 About 1,200 people who retired from Tower Automotive's Milwaukee plant will see their monthly health insurance premiums quadruple - or more - to retain their current medical coverage. Under changes to health insurance benefits presented this week to Tower Automotive retirees, here's how costs would change beginning March 1 for a single person and a retiree on the family plan: The notices from Tower arrived at the homes of Tower retirees in recent days, leaving them confused about their options, shocked at the magnitude of the increase and upset with a company that they contend is reneging on past commitments by making such a drastic change. Health insurance premiums for some of the Tower retirees have increased to more than $1,000 a month, a figure termed "absurd" by a union official. Company officials say they have no choice but to raise the premiums as health care costs skyrocket. Experts who watch the health care marketplace say the Tower situation is reflective of a national trend. The Tower increases will be the subject of a union grievance that Smith Steel Workers Local 19806 plans to file with the company today, union President Duane McConville said. The increases also come while retirees and the company are in mediation to resolve a federal court lawsuit challenging changes the company has already made to the retiree health insurance plan. Larry Meronek, 49, a Tower retiree, said he and his wife, Mara, have postponed plans to move to northern Wisconsin, where they hoped to build a retirement home. The Menomonee Falls couple were supposed to meet today with their builder. Those plans were canceled, Larry Meronek said, and he plans to begin looking for a job. The Meroneks said at first they couldn't believe their health insurance premium was increasing to more than $1,000 a month from $250 a month. They hoped the figure was a mistake or didn't apply to them. Larry Meronek's retirement income from Tower after 30 years as a factory worker is $1,400 a month. "We always knew the health insurance premium could go up, but this is something we never expected," Larry Meronek said. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I had hoped to work part time, but now I have to look for a full-time job. "I'll have to work until I'm 65," he said, acknowledging that he likely will not find an $18-per-hour job as he had at Tower. "We thought we'd never have to worry about health insurance. If I knew this was going to happen, I never would have retired," he said. Meronek will pay the $1,000 a month, he said, because he fears the financial risks of going without health insurance. His wife, 52, works part time as a registered nurse but says she does not want to work full-time because of job stress. She said she thinks the company is deliberately making the health insurance for retirees "unaffordable so we will drop the insurance altogether." Several Tower retirees on Wednesday were still grappling with how they're going to cope with the increases. They have until Feb. 9 to decide which health insurance coverage they want to select. "I retired so other people could have a job and get their 30 years in," said John Kraus of Wauwatosa. "If I had known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have retired." Michael Beyer of Greenfield said he is attending graduate school to pursue a master's degree to make himself more competitive in the job market. He received money to go back to school after his job as a quality control supervisor was moved to Mexico when Tower sold its heavy truck business. The new $1,028-a-month premium will gobble up more than half of his monthly pretax pension of $1,900, Beyer said. jsonline.com