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NYPD DEA President Scott Munro · NYPD Through The Looking Glass

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Scott Monroe is president of the NYPD's Detective Endowment Association, and he's here today to talk to us about the new DEA dental plan.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Scott, welcome to the show.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, thanks for having me.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Scott, Marique and I were never union delegates, so this is uncharted water for us.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: So for you and our listeners, forgive me if I misspeak or re have to reread a question all over again because I'm far from an expert on health coverage or insurance coverage.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, Marique, you brokered this interview.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: You did much of the research.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Please take it from here.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Scott, thanks again for being on the uh podcast.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: We really appreciate you coming here to answer the questions that a lot of uh the retired and active members have.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um so just a quick summary of the dental benefits.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we had Cigna Gold Standard Plan.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they realized that we were costing them a lot more than they thought that we were going to.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so they raised our rates about 220%.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the city only gives us 29 million or gives the DEA 29 million for active and retired vision dental and benefits like that.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And because the plan was going to cost 11 more million dollars a year than that, we couldn't feasibly stay with Cigna.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: We weren't able to afford it.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if you could walk us through the process of how the DEA came to choose MetLife and that whole procedure with blue line planning and uh the brokers, if you could walk us through that, that would be really helpful.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: So um, you know, basically, uh I I took over about two years ago, uh, July would be two years.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh when I first got in, I did an independent audit on all the accounts here in health benefits, in in the union itself.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I did an independent audit and I wanted to look and see what we were really at and what was going on.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: So after doing that independent audit, um, we realized last year, the first year I was in, um, that we were gonna have a problem with health benefits.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_03: And um, we notified the the members by mail.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's not something I'm gonna put on social media or something like that, you know, or or or out there or the email because you know what happens is everybody gets crazy with this stuff.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I sent everybody a letter in in last July basically saying that we're gonna have some changes.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: And we started the changes with the prescription drugs.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: Because when we first had Express Grips here, I was told, because I sat on health benefits, that we were gonna get a$24 million rebate from Express Scripts, which we never received.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: I kept asking, where is the rebate?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_03: Where is the rebate?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: We never received the rebate.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: They said it was in savings later on.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I was not happy with that answer.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: So after doing this independent audit, I fired the accountant, okay?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: The consultant I didn't use.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: I you this is why we went with Blue Line.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't use the consultant.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: I was not happy what went on.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: We won't end up going on with uh capital RX, which actually I did use the consultant for Capital RX where we put an RFP out.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: That's considered bids, if people don't understand what that is, and data bids that came in and we went with Capital RX.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: Presently, today, since we started with Capital RX and got rid of Express Grips, we've saved over eight million dollars.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: So we're trying to build this fund up, okay?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: To build the fund up to make sure that our actives and retirees, and I'm gonna say I don't want to keep separating active and retirees.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: This is the union.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_03: This is your union.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: And you know what?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_03: We we we're all the same.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I know you have questions why this one got this and we got that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Now, and I'll get into any of that questions that we know as we go.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: But the bottom line is I was told that that we needed to cut, we needed to do things.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: Now we had the Rolls-Royce plan.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna call it the Rolls-Royce plan of Dental.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_03: When Cygna came in, they gave us that plan, they lost over$90 million.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: They, and when I was in, when I first got in, they kept trying to come in and to renegotiate the plan.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted me to throw the plan out.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I wouldn't.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: I said, no, I can't take back.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted me to utilize less providers out there.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: And what I'm gonna do is if I did that, it would have been a real shot with everybody.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I can't go to the dentist I've been going to for 30 years, and I can't do this.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: I can't do that.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: I was not doing that, okay?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_03: I let that plan roll.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: They came in again, they came in from Atlanta.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: They sat down on me again.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: Please, let's load a plan.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_03: We're losing 90, we lost 90 million dollars.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I stayed with the plan.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: Now, our plan was better than the PBA's plan because they actually went with Signa 2.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: They had the Mercedes-Benz plan.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: We had the Rolls-Royce plant.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, that's what I told new members I came into the DEA.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, we have the Rolls Royce.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Usually it was turned around.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: I came on this job 34 years ago.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: I was a detective in like 1997.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: The bottom line is I had healthplex, was the worst plan where I had a family of four, and and I was able to deal with it, and they all had braces.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: They all had, you know, uh, you know, moving forward.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I kept telling them that this is gonna change.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: I went to a retired detectives association, RDNY.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: I explained to them, this is going to change.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: When was I explained it at our meetings?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, this is going to change.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_03: It's we're not gonna end up keeping this plan.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_03: There's no way that they're gonna want the DEA to do business with what we utilize in their dental plan.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_03: We have members that got$35,000 worth of uh working and amount.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: They didn't want us.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so what happens is we get$408 a member from the city, from active and retired.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to separate it again, but that's what we get.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: We have two administrative funds, one's active and one's retired.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: So when we bring that money in, we those two funds I intermingle because I can't.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_03: So we were paying because the retirees, which is gonna be me one day, is gonna they spent about 78% of the plan.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: So I had to take money from the active plan to to to basically take care of the retirees with their expenditures, expenditures with you know, like prescription drugs, dental, and eyeglasses.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_03: So we worked together, and that's how I was a we were able to do that.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_03: So then when Cygna was coming down, we asked Cygna for a price.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: The first price they gave us was a terrible, it was$35 million,$36 million.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: I can't afford that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: I only bring in$29 million.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: So if I said everybody wants to have great teeth and and have everything going on, I can't give you prescription uh drugs.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: I can't give you um I can't give you eyeglasses.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: That's where the money goes.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: I can't intermingle, you know, going, I I'm I know I'm jumping all over the place, but and because I have a lot of questions that I have to get out here.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_03: And I can't intermingle DEA dues with the monies from the the city gives us, the 1408.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: I can't do that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: We're not allowed to do that.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_03: If I could, I would.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_03: I can't.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why we're utilizing why we're utilizing what's happening here.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I inherited this and I'll take it on and we're gonna change it, we're gonna fix it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: And as we go, I'm gonna make sure that we can give more benefits to the retirees.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: I'm telling you not now.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm giving you my word.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_03: I've gave my word, I'm very transparent.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: We actually put a health benefits website out there for people.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_03: You can see it, it's brand new, okay?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: It's for prescription drugs, health benefits, it's all out there.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_03: Anybody can log on.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: You don't have to be an active DEA member to uh get on, okay?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: You can get on there and do that because uh if you're not an active DEA member, you can't get onto our regular website.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: But I made sure to be transparent to put this plan this uh website out there about we started it about four or five months ago to make sure this is out there you can look at you the main account and you could click on to the to the health benefits thing and you're gonna see a whole new health and welfare um uh website to give information out there to our members to be transparent.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we appreciate that for sure, but with the so so we had to go with a new uh dental plan, and you went with blue line planning to be what a broker for looking for other plans, or how did that procedure go?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: You put out a request.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: No, they were actually uh we we went around, I hired I brought so in in after firing the accountant and going a different way, I brought Mike Palladino to come in and manage the plan and give give us a hand.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: To give us a hand.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: No one better than a guy that retired from Fordham, accountant, uh president of uh this union for probably 19, 20 years, I would think.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh, vice president of a National Association of Police Officers, president of the New York State Conference, police conference.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted somebody in here that cared, somebody that's gonna work with this team, because I want to make the A team.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I brought Mike back.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: And he went through all of this and was and and was concerned.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_03: Who's a retiree?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: Whose wife is a retiree, okay?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: So that's who I wanted to look at this plans and how we were gonna go forward, okay?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, because when Mike left this union, retired this from this union, we had about 119 uh million in in that plan.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so that's basically what what I wanted here.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason we went and asked other plans, but some plans wouldn't do a buy-up for us.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: So what we did was I met, I met, this union met.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_03: When you go to these conferences and you speak out, I started the New York State uh Alliance and and and I spoke to uh Jeff Greco that that had this plan that had had New York Life.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I said, I want a nice, I want a big company to do our plan here at the DEA.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: And there's a couple reasons why.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: And the reason why we went with New York Life, MetLife, I'm sorry.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh MetLife was because our life insurance is there too.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: And this is business, okay?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: We have a broker here called uh Mechanic Associates.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sure you heard of them.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: They handled your life insurance here, okay?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: They're a broker.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: I pay them, the DEA pays them, we pay them to handle a plan for our life insurance.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_03: I went with Greco and well uh I don't even know.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_03: When I met them is it's Blue Line, right?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: So I went with Blue Line.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: Blue Line Planning, right?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_03: They they blue line planning, they represent MetLife.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's who you go to to represent MetLife.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_03: So I was concerned with this, and my and and of course Mike was concerned with this.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_03: We needed to break down and get the information from Signa because you know, Signa don't want to give us the information now because we're not doing business with them no more, right?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_03: So we had to get the busin information on where people lived through this, you know, through the country to make sure that they were covered.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like you individuals live in Florida.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: I wanted to make sure that you could utilize the dental in Florida, which is a lot of members.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was like three or four thousand members in Florida alone.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in order to deal with MetLife, you have to go through blue line planning?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's yes, we well, we don't.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, they have you have to listen.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: I could go to them and deal with them directly.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: I would not uh how am I gonna do it?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_03: I I gonna you need to run.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: We have health benefits now, it's there's we have to run.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's a consultant.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: You need a consultant.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_03: That blue line planning, the DEA is not riding a dime to.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_03: They make their money from MetLife, not the DEA.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_03: Unlike the life insurance, where I do pay a broker to do.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_03: We do not pay Met uh blue line planning anything, not a dime from this union, okay?
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: They were the ones that figured out where the locations were, where we were, and they were gonna handle the buyer.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I just got off the phone with them today.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: We have over 2,300 people, 2,300 people that already signed up to go for the buyer.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: For the buyer.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: So the bottom line is they handled that.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: They handle your credit card.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: They handle that.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: That's not my I can't do that here in the DEA office.
• 11:32
  unknown: Okay.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: You don't have to do that.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: So for Cigna, for Cigna or for Vision, was there any brokers used for any other previous or even healthplaques were there brokers used for that as well?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: Or this is just because MetLife We had a person directly uh just like we do from MetLife.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: We have a person directly that we deal with from MetLife.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_03: We have a person that's gonna be at the meetings.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_03: We had them at the meetings from MetLife.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: You we do have one person that you could speak to directly from there, but you could also use blue line planning if you want.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: You could you could talk to that to them, you could do whatever you want.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_03: They are at our meetings like any other company.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: But they're not costing the they're gonna not costing the DEA anything, and it's just the$25 charge for members to sign up.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that like a flat rate?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is that gonna go up yearly?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Are you charged yearly for that?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: If I have my way, if I have my way, because you're gonna have to sign up in January again.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna try, and it's gonna be up to the health benefit board to waive that$25.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: But right now, we really didn't know where we were at with this.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we're we're in, you know, new ground here.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_03: So um I'm gonna bring present that with Mike Palladino and and and look at the funds and see if we could waive that come January.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna try my hardest to do that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: I will try my hardest to do that.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that's a good idea.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: So MetLife gave So MetLife gave so Cigna didn't really basically want to re-up with us because we cost them a fortune.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So they didn't even really want to deal with us with even a lower plan or anything because they knew that we were gonna cost them too much.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: So MetLife was the best option for retirees.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: They had the best coverage in with that within the country, that's what you're saying.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: And to do the buy-up for us.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so Cygna wasn't willing to do the buy-up for us, and they weren't gonna handle the buy-up.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_03: So that's why we brought in blue line planning to do the buy-up for us.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: And and that$25 fee is a fee for their their administrative fee, I guess, paperwork, mailings, and whatever else they're doing.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: I I really don't know.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_03: But the bottom line is that's what the main and like I said, if I could pick that up in the near future, I will.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_03: You know, um, you know, that's the bottom line.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, we're trying to to make our benefits better here.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we're trying to do.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I understand people are upset.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm upset.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: This was this is gonna affect me.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't, you know, I took this over.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I I took this on, you know.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_03: This wasn't something I did.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: This one, you know, when we we deferred payments, let's get down that road if you want.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: We deferred payments for 21 months for health benefits for$1,408 a person.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: Not a family, a person.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: So what was happening was we were using, we're using all that benefit money is$1,408 a person.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_03: Where could you go and get insurance to get to get eyeglasses, to get dental, okay?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: To to to you know, to get prescription drugs for$1,408 for your family of, say, five.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe some guys have six.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's a guy complaining on here every time detective complaining, he's got he's got six kids.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_03: I understand it.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: I understand it.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to help team.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's in a heart.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So so there's no basic affiliations between the DEA and the blue line planning.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's the the the way you came across blue line planning is because you guys wanted to go with Matt Life and you met Greco, who is in charge of the company and owns it.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's the guy who has 20-something years of experience, I think, in the industry.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: I believe correct, but Greco does.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: And when you know, when when you talk to other people through the state and you learn, hey, I have this person, we use that person, there was no affiliation here.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_03: Suffolk County PBA used Greco, and basically Greco represents Suffolk County PBA, Suffolk County Detectives, Suffolk County Fire Academy, Suffolk County Probation, um, I think Suffolk County employees.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: So they said, I think.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: And not Suffol County PBA, I don't know.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe uh um but um he represents MetLife.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: So who am I gonna go to?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_03: Who am I gonna get to do this for us?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and um and there is no affiliation.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know anybody, I don't go out to steak dinners, I don't smoke cigars.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm just trying to do the right thing here.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: This board, I don't want to keep saying me, but even though I'm the chief financial officer here and everything that's going on, I'm the president of this union, I'm here along with my board that came in here in 2024, and we're here to do the best that we could do for our members.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_03: And and they all feel the same.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_03: And if they don't, then that they need to find a new career, they don't need to be here at the DEA.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_03: But I and and that includes the staff.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I I I am I am very um, you know, with some of the stuff that's that's out there, and this is why I asked uh, you know, when I spoke to you and and and wanted me to do this on the podcast.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: I thought it was great because I was gonna do my own podcast.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, I have people calling me, hey Scott, why don't you do your own podcast like Suffolk County and get your message out there, you know?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: And and um, and I may, I may, I may talk to the board and I may still start doing it.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: I'll be your competition.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, so um, you know, so so you know, we're gonna be out here, we're gonna be doing what we have to do moving forward, and I'm telling you right now, I am gonna do my best and to try to save whatever I could do for any retired member or anybody moving forward here, okay?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: I have the best.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: There's no one better that people I know the next question is gonna be well, why don't you have a retired member on your board or you know, involved with this and this and that?
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm gonna answer that question for you right now.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_03: I have the best guy, Mike Palladino, that's on this board, that does a great job here, that took this on, okay?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_03: And took this on for not just me, not just this union for everybody, to do this job to make sure that we get the best benefits here that we can.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna, and we're gonna get better.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna get better.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Believe me, we're gonna get better.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: So you have a you basically have a retired accountant, retired DEA accountant who's working on this with you guys.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: But I think a a question to a lot of people have, including myself, is um if if the you if the city's putting the same amount of money in, 29 million or around 29 million dollars a year for vision dental, et cetera, active members and retired members, why is it that retired members have to buy up for the same plan that the active members currently have for no.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: Well, thank you for that question.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_03: Because what's happening, like I I I explained before, in the administrative funds, my active members, and I I don't want to separate them.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: I want to say this union, the money that we're we're we're we're getting in from the city for the active members, they're funding the retiree member members.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: They're funding their their their prescription drugs, their dental.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: Because, like I said, the retired members are using 78%.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: Don't hold me to the exact figure, but uh uh I'm uh uh more than what the the the actors are using.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_03: Significantly more.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, let's let's fade it.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: I've been here, okay, I've used this plan three times, okay?
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: I use the plan.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: And most of these guys and the uh and and the woman on this job, they don't have time, they don't go to the dentist, they don't do it, they're active, they're out there, they can't get days off, they're working very hard, they're on details, they're doing what they need to do here, okay?
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: They're not in a dentist chair, okay?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: They're not in a dentist chair.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: But and I and for instance, I had a retiree call me the other day and say, I uh my wife's got visal line, 65 years old.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_03: My wife's got visaline, and I don't know if we're gonna be able to pay that payment or whatever, like to do this.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: We didn't use that plan, okay?
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: The actives didn't utilize the plan.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, if we went out and we went out for a bid for 5,000 members in this union and not the retirees, I could tell you we could get a great plan because they're gonna go by on usage.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's just like working, we'll use Allstate, for instance.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: If you have four accidents at Allstate, what do they do?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_03: They raise your they raise your rates, right?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that was so that was a decision for the DEA to have the retired pay up, or that was the decision of blue line planning.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: That was the DEA health benefit because based on the numbers.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: There's a board of five.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: We decided to make sure that you could do that.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: Now, like I said, um there's other unions out there.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, I I'd be totally honest with you.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: I I mean, my feeling is I want it to be all the same.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_03: And if I can, and I don't want to make a promise that I I I I don't want to make a promise that I don't know if I could hold or not, but I'm gonna try my damnedest to make sure that that uh that we that we could keep everything the same.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: That that's what I am gonna say.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_03: And um moving forward, that's what I'm gonna try to do.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: But that that administrative$25, I know it's only$25.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to get that waived.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, looking at the numbers that are cost the union, probably$50,000 right as we speak right now.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so but uh, you know, I'm trying to do to make this right for everybody.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: So all I'm asking is to have some patience, okay?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: I understand people are upset, but I don't want to put this stuff out there.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: I have had the press call me on this and ask me questions, and they basically said, that's not a story.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: I have to pay for my dental.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_03: The press told me.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: I said, yeah.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: I said, yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: I said, and like I said, you're my name, it's it's it's it's not that it's it's embarrassing.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: People are saying, you know, I I just want to put the the facts out there like I'm doing right now, so we can move forward with this and the members know.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: And uh last meeting we had, we had somebody get up at the meeting, and he he said some not good things, you know, and and he was straightened out and he walked away.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean this is why so I'm gonna have this meeting that we're gonna recognize our 9-11 families, and I think that's very important.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's 25 years.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: I was there uh along with a lot of people that are gonna be at this meeting, and um and I'm I'm gonna open up the meeting at 9 o'clock in the morning.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's not gonna be the meeting, and it's gonna be a QA if they want.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: Anybody that wants to come for that QA from 9 o'clock to uh 9.40, they can ask the questions.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna have the rep from blue line there, I'm gonna have uh Met Life there, I'm gonna have the accountant there, I'm gonna have them all there.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: And they can ask any questions they want.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: Mike Paladino's gonna be there.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_03: They can ask any questions they want towards the plan.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: I please, I don't want to interrupt the families uh on 9-11 and what we're down there to do, and that's why I want to do that from 9 to 940, because that's the place we have the place for.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And is that gonna be a televised or Zoom or something?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: So you could put that out on the website, people that can't go watch it or we can get it out there.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is why I'm doing this with you.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, I'm doing, you know, we're gonna get this out here.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know what I mean?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: We'll get we're we're gonna get it out, you know, to the members so that they they know what's going on.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, um, you know, remember like we're gonna do that.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_03: We did that last meeting.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_03: We had R D Y, the retired detectives uh um organization, come and they all sat and they and they asked questions.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: About the buy-up.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: They did ask questions.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: They were involved.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: And we told people that.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I had gotten a lot of calls from members that didn't want to disrupt the meeting for the 9-11 that said, can you please do something?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why I'm going to go from 9 to 940.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: This is why I'm doing this.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_03: This is why a letter was sent out.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, um, I hope to be, I'm very transparent.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_03: Probably more than anybody ever was here transparent, I'd have to tell you.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_03: And um, you know, being involved here since 2005 on as a delegate, I'll probably more transparent than anybody.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that lead that's a good um lead to the next question that I have is is um the mem a lot of members are upset because they got a letter, including myself, and then like two weeks later, September 1st, the the plan was going to change.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just curious what happened there, why wasn't the membership being notified earlier or anything?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: Aaron Powell Because what was happening was um what was happening was Cygna, I we weren't giving up.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: We're waiting to get another um another price back from them on basically what they would do for us.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: We couldn't afford it.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: $28 million, I can't afford it.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: We can't afford it.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: You know what's coming in, only bringing in 28.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to have your prescription drugs and your eyeglasses, like I said, which I think is important, that's gonna affect Scott Monroe in six years.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's why I keep trying to tell people it's gonna affect me.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_03: Prescription drugs is very important.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: All of that comes out of that same bucket of$29 million for active and retired.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you have a limited So what you're saying is that Cygna was still negotiating with us back and forth, and it wasn't until almost the deadline that you realized that this is that we're at an impasse here, we can't negotiate any further, we can't meet anywhere in the middle, so we're gonna have to find somebody else.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a last-minute sort of thing for you guys to find MetLife.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we were I was hoping to do, but I had to have things ready to roll here because the contract was ending, you know, and I couldn't wait.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_03: We kept asking for the new proposal, give us another proposal, because the 36 million wasn't cutting it, you know?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: And um and and deep down in my heart I knew, I knew um they were never gonna come into the number that we needed anyway.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And uh So is there any way that we can join with other unions, like kind of how the lieutenants and captains do where we can join up and maybe get a better plan for all the union, for all union members retired and active?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's a great qu question.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_03: You know, so basically, um when I when I came in here, I tried I tried to do speaking, I do speak to the sergeants, to the lieutenants and the captains.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um the PBA wouldn't want to get involved with that because you know their members are very young, okay?
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: And they don't use the plan.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: So why would they want to inherit my retired detective or my guy that's uh, you know, you know, 25 because that's gonna bring their prices up high.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they have these guys.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think like I I don't know what the number is.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to, or I don't I think that maybe 70 percent of the they probably move on and become a lieutenant, a sergeant, or a detective, or they retire.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the most most police officers are young, you know, and they don't use the plan like we utilize the plan.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that's why I could understand why they wouldn't want to be involved with this.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell But if you got an influx of however many 10,000 or 15,000 cops that are young that don't really use the plan, wouldn't that number help us to get a better rate because there's fewer then then the ratio is less older guys to younger guys?
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_00: Would that benefit us?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not helping them.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't help them.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_03: So they would still get it.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's not helping the PBN.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's that it you know what I mean.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_03: Why would they do that with us if it's not helping them?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: So it it that that would hurt them if if we we joined their plan.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_03: So that's the SBA or the LBA or the SOC.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_03: I spoke to them, you know what it was a lot of and we discussed this, and I and I speak to those those gentlemen, those presidents of those unions all the time.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_03: And um, and we I I I believe we're pretty close, you know.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um their contracts were ending different times of uh as ours, okay, and that's what was going on.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: And like so, like I was talking to the LBA and they purchased to get more money.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_03: Like they get$1,505 a member from the city because what they do is every time on contract negotiations, they extend their contract two or three months longer to get more money for health benefits.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_03: And we can't do that as detectives because if we do that, we'll have cops making more money than detectives.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: So listen, I would love to do it.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I could have sat down with them on well or at that time, Paul DeGiacomo could have sat down with them and said, you know what, let's do the four-year deal, let's do the 19%.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: But on your last raise, you only get 2% instead of 4%.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_03: You think the may you think the members would vote for that?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: They want that 4%.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: We could have put 2 more percent back into health benefits, but the members would have never gone for that because why?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_03: They want the money, they want their money more pensionable.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, really, it doesn't work both ways.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: You would have to explain to them that this is your health benefits, and that's what's going on.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: So speaking to that, when when the the contract was negotiated uh originally, did you notify the members that that was part of the deal that um that the bene that the money for health and benefits was going to be paused?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because you spoke about it a little earlier.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was on the website.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_03: It was actually on the website, and they were all sent a copy of the contract, and 4,696 people voted for that contract, I think out of 5,300 at the time, I think there was 241 no's.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um you know, because the the contract was, listen, we could have through um we could have thrown steps in grade, which members would have lost their mind if we did that, and which would which probably wouldn't have been um a good percentage for more money into health benefits, you know, and uh we thought by the guidance of the accountant and the people running this account back in 2022, the president, Paul De Giacomo, the vice president, um Paul Morrison, who's on health benefits alone, they felt and they were guided by by the people that they hired, they hired, okay, um, that I fired, that we would be okay with the fund.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: So is our fund okay now?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like w we we did have a pause of 21 months, which is 30 some odd million dollars or whatever it was that we don't have.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: So how are we doing now?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is it properly funded?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are we gonna need a bailout?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Are there gonna be more cuts that you can perceive right now, or is the money are we are we gonna basically you know, being transparent right now?
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: We we're doing pretty good with the fund.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: We've saved over eight million dollars in prescription drugs since we started.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited about that.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: And and like I said, I want to be able to give back more to our members, right?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: So um I think when we get that fund, you know, the rule is to have uh two years worth of payments in the bank.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, God forbid something happens, like there's another uh, you know, what what happened with COVID or something like that, you know, or or the stock market goes down, you know.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_03: So my I'm I'm I'm very excited that we we did save eight million dollars, you know.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, the bottom line is before this took over, when I took this over, our payments were like three million dollars a month, and figure that out.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_03: Three times twelve is is what?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: That's not what I'm bringing in.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_03: We were using we were using stuff in our fund to make the payments.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_03: Now we can't run this union like that.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: I can't run health benefits like that.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: I want to be able to make sure we have health, we have prescription drugs down the line, okay?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_03: So if I start doing that, I could have left this and said, you know what, we have$54 million in there.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_03: Let's just let's just write it out.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_03: What's what's hope?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_03: Let's cross our fingers and make sure that um, you know, the market's doing really well and we could you know perform that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: I can't do that.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: I can't leave this union like that.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I I I can't.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: We we have to work together, okay?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_03: And like I said, I don't want to separate us again.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_03: Active and retirees have to work together and uh and and get this done the correct way.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_03: And we are, and I promise you, I'm gonna I'm doing my best.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_03: This board is doing their best, the health benefits are doing this best, the people we hired uh are doing their best.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um you fire the people you fire the people that you fire the people that messed up.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_03: I can tell you I removed a lot of people here when I took over because it wasn't about, and I'm gonna tell this, and I say this all the time, it's not about friendships.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_03: I lost friendships when I took this over, okay?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_03: And um I had to do the job that was right for the men and women in this union, okay, and that's the bottom line.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm still gonna do the job for the men and women in this union going forward.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_03: And if you don't work and you don't want to be a positive player here in the DEA and help our members, because it's always about the membership.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_03: I always say it at the end of everything I do.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_03: It's always about the membership, and I and and I believe that, and I and I and I and I stand by that, okay?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um you you will not be working or you will not be affiliated with the DEA.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: And when I'm you know, and and the the people that are out there putting that false narrative out there, it's a little upsetting.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's a little embarrassing to this rank that we have outsiders looking at this.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: We have the press calling me, asking me questions, and then laughing and saying, Oh, we pay for dental.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, and but when I like I said, I said to my neighbor when he said to me, he said to me, Hey Scott, what's going on?
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you gotta pay for your time.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_03: I said, you know what?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_03: The men and women that did this job and still do this job should have their dental paid for.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm gonna try my best to get that done.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Is it is it possible that the retirees are gonna have to pay more permanently or because the other thing that I brought out is that other departments, I don't know any departments anywhere actually that I looked up that the retirees get the coverage equal to the active members.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I think part of the question was that, you know, do the retirees have to pay more because you guys are modeling after that, or it just was simply a numbers game?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it was a numbers game, basically to get it and to get to make sure that everybody was covered.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, everybody was covered for dental somewhat, and then they were able to buy up.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_03: Like I said, from 2022 to now, I think I said that I think we had about 1,736 detectives retire.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I know because they don't like this job, they're upset about the job, they're upset it the way they're treated, and I understand all that.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I made sure we had that buy-up plan that Blue Line was handling, okay?
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure that they can have that because they have young children still, okay?
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why we did the buy-up plan.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's exactly why we did that.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_03: I forced that buy-up plan because I did not want to give the retirees, I wanted them to be have the option to buy up to make sure that because they have young children, okay?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_03: That's why we did it.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_03: I'm hoping, and I'm hoping.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like I just spoke to the LBA, and and they said they everybody has the same plan, but you all could buy up.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a good plan, but you could all buy up.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: So And and you're working on changing that eventually so that the retirees don't always have to buy up that eventually.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_03: If I could change this tomorrow, I would change it tomorrow.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just, I'm gonna do my best, and we're gonna look at this funding, and we're gonna do it.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't have to wait till this three-year contract is done.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: We could do it as we go.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: I want to see how we're making out, what's what we're doing very well with the prescription drugs now, okay?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so um, that's what I'm looking to really see what's going on moving forward.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: And then it's gonna be up to not just Scott Monroe here, by the way.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's the health benefits board that sit here and they decide on what we could do and what we can't do.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_03: Just like the administrative fee that's gonna come up in in um January for the new year, that's$25.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_03: I have to ask them if they are willing to eat that fee, okay.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_03: Fast to eat that fee through the plant.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: And if the accountant says to me, Scott, it's it should be fine, do it.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: My my suggestion as chairing that committee that we're gonna do it.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so um but it once again, it's up to the health and benef uh benefits to to to do that.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if Vic has any other following.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just got I just got a couple of questions, Scott, about uh implementation and transition.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: Are active and retired members automatically enrolled in the court plan on September 30th, or do they have to elect to buy do the buy-up by the deadline?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: They have to do the buy-up to the deadline.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: Listen, I'd be totally honest with you.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_03: If you're not going to the dentist, if you're not going to the dentist between now and January, don't buy up until January.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: But you're automatically enrolled.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you're enrolled, yeah.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: And your dependents.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: So so what happened so what happens to members who have treatment already in progress with Cigna, like crowns and implants?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: What what happens with that?
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna we'll we're um we're gonna have to work that out with uh MetLife.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know I that answer I'm gonna sit here and tell you I don't I I don't know.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, um if there's a hardship or something like that, I understand, you know, um if you're telling me you got Visaline or something like that, you know, um I I don't know.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna have to figure out, you know, uh what we're gonna do with that.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: And will existing Cigna authorizations or predeterminations carry over, or does everything have to get resubmitted?
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_03: I believe it's gotta get resubmitted.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_03: But they uh that that those answers I don't have.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um I believe they have to be resubmitted through them.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I I and I really do believe that MetLife, seeing seeing what uh what's going on right now and uh me on the horn every day and uh getting this thing done, I think they're gonna do the I they they they should do the right thing.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: You know, if they want to do business with uh the DEA, and and that's another reason I wanted to say to you is I think I mentioned it before, they my life, our life insurance, I keep saying me, I'm sorry.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_03: Our life insurance, the DEA life insurance policy is up in the year, and we have MetLife.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: So they're gonna have to sharpen their pencil, and I'm gonna make sure that they sharpen their pencil in the dental end of it, okay?
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um if they want to continue with the life insurance with uh the New York City Detectives and Dom Association.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_03: So, like I said, there's a lot of moving parts here, and uh we're gonna do what we can do to get to to get it done.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: And Scott, how does MetLife's participating dentist network and the five boroughs and surrounding counties compare with Cygnus forming network?
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um that's a good question.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: So um I I believe it's it's it's it's it's good.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: We that's what we we looked at, you know, um with with with the participating people, and that's why we did the outlook.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, when we did that outlook for the retirees in Florida and the eight other locations where they live through the through the country.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um they're pretty good.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_03: But you gotta remember something, and I think I mentioned it before.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_03: When Cygnet came in here and they wanted me, they wanted this union to cut benefits because they lost$90 million from us, okay?
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_03: They lost$90 million on this account.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: And the bottom line was that when they lost that money, they wanted to cut our people that we use.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: They were looking not to be able to put as many providers out there as what we had.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I did not want to do that to the members at that time.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't want to do any of this to the members, but I certainly wasn't gonna do it.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: You signed the contract, that was the deal.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_03: We made out on it.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_03: It cost them$150 million for our account.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_03: We used$150 million of dental from Cygna, okay?
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_03: And they lost$90 million.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: So the bottom line is they were trying to get out of this.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted to cut down providers.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: We tried and tried to stay with the providers that we have.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't hear anybody say that their dent dentist didn't take it.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_03: Be totally honest with you.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't hear too many people to say that.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: Scott, retirees who moved out of New York have reported network gaps.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: What is the uh add-a-network reimbursement formula?
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_02: And is there an uh a national PPO or wraparound option for members living in other states?
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_03: No, I mean what we have is we we had we had um MetLife.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's what that's what I said was we made sure that those people in those states that they were covered too.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: That was a big part of this, that they were covered.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_03: This was a big part of this.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: We have a lot of retirees in Florida.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_03: So they didn't have to get on a plane to come on up here and get checked out up here.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_03: Th, you know, to do their dental twice a year or once a year or whatever they decide to do.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_03: But that was part of the that was part of our deal with uh MetLife.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, and my last question, what ongoing reporting will members receive on fund performance to see whether MetLife, whether the MetLife move is closing the gap as projected?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: What how are they gonna receive it?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_03: I want to make sure that they're gonna receive it transparency through my new website that we put together, okay, that everybody has access to, whether you're a member or not a member of the union, um, they're gonna see it all there.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um I I'm gonna tell you something.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'll probably do it more towards email because I'm not gonna use postage, just mail stuff because people tell me they didn't get it, I got it, or they moved after five years and they're not members here anymore.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_03: I think the best bet is to do it is to uh inform everybody about the new website that we do have uh that's open to everybody.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Via email.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_03: And do email.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: And do email.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: So so to all the members, update your email addresses, make sure the DEA has your correct email address on file because it does save money too, sending emails instead of postage.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, postage is big here.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: And then and and let's let's go down.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh are you done with the health benefits part of it?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: Or because I could give you a little something on the on the dues.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_03: Bottom line is um, you know, your union dues.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_03: I just want to I I don't want to get into too much with this and and why we went into this.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: We had over six thousand members not pay their union dues, okay, when I came in here.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_03: Another thing I'm cleaning up.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, when you're in good standing of the union, you get to go on the website, you get to buy what you need to buy.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_03: These are little things.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_03: Your cards and books get mailed to you yearly.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_03: That's the little things.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_03: According to to me, that's a bullshit thing, okay?
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_03: So the most important thing is your 9-11 disability, okay?
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_03: We deal with you at the three-quarter board, we pay for the attorneys, we do all of that, okay?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_03: And that's part of your being a life member at the DEA.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: Okay?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_03: That's important.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_03: We have people calling up that are sick and dying from 9-11 illnesses that didn't pay their dues, that pay their dues now because they have to use our attorneys, they have to use what's going on here.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_03: We have um members of wives calling up that that need a will done or a health proxy done for their husband or their or or their wife that was on this job, okay?
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_03: And they need to get that done.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_03: And we do that as part of the union dues, okay, for you as a life member.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_03: We had members before I took over call up that weren't even members of this union, uh, you know, that we retired 10 years getting wills done on your back because you paid your your dues, okay?
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what the union dues pays.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, that's some of the stuff that that we do.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: We also have a scholarship for children from 18 to 23 years of age that you could take advantage of.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, we do the the the you know the stuff that really, you know, the the Christmas party and and the um the Christmas meeting and and the picnic that we do, that's where that union dues goes to, among everything else, turning the lights on in the building and everything else that goes on here.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_03: So it's important that everybody knows that.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: You can't interact your union dues with uh with health benefits.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's two different things.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_03: The accusations that are out there now, they're totally untrue.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_03: Those dues we're doing really well.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: We're doing really well here at the DEA where where we had to put a roof.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_03: We spent over about two and a half million dollars on a roof and AC unit that was over th the roof was over 30 years old, the AC unit was 25 years old.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: This is stuff that we replaced.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_03: That's your money.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's your building.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_03: We're not renting this or leasing this, okay?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_03: This is your building.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: These are updates that needed to be done for this building.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to leave this union in any type of disarray.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_03: And this is why we're doing what we're doing today.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_03: So is that I know if we could talk about union dues or something else at another time, but I just want to get that out there.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: Your union dues has nothing to do with health benefits, okay?
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_03: There's nothing worse, and I don't deal with it, but there's nothing worse, I'm sure, than telling a member that's dying that you need to go.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_03: I have to have an employee here go to their home to fill out the World Trade Center stuff and tell them that you're not a union member.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'll never turn anybody away.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_03: But the bottom line is that's what's paying.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's what those union dudes pay for.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_03: They pay for those attorneys.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: Or you get sued 20 years down the road, and you want to be deposed.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: If you're not a union member, you're not getting an attorney.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_03: People are getting sued 20 years down the road now.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_03: Gotta be a union member.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna send an attorney with you when you're gonna be deposed.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_03: Especially that went on here in the NYPD for the last couple years, right?
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: So that all those people that retired, they're being deposed.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_03: There's certain things out there right now.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: They need an attorney.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: I suggest you you don't you become a union member when you leave here.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's only benefits yourself.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: So just really, really quick, the we had a letter a couple of weeks ago, I think, that you had to pay all the dues up front to be a lifetime member till you're 65.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Is that part of the reason?
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is because a lot of people weren't paying, and so you just wanted to make it easier, also, so you didn't have to have a yearly reminder to pay the dues and that everything's paid up up front and you're good to go?
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like what was the decision?
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_03: So what I did, so what we did was we saw how many people weren't paying their dues and they were trying to take advantage of the benefit.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_03: They would call a lawyer up and say, hey, listen, I need a well-done health proxy, and they tell them you're not paying.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_03: You know, when we we're not doing that for you.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, I don't want to do that.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: You're a detective.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: I we're we're we're supposed to be working together.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: We're not supposed to eat our own.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_03: Unfortunately, this job, this the New York City Police Department likes to eat their own.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_03: I've never seen any other police department do what goes on now out there on social media.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's it's it's very sad that we're eating our own.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, so that's basically why we asked the 650 for the 650 lifetime dues.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_03: And the other reason is, and you're gonna like this reason, you retire at 20, you retire with, you know, at 41 years old, 42 years old.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: You're gonna pay$40 a year up until you're 65.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's more money.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_03: You pay the 650 up front, you're a life member.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_03: I don't need to collect checks here, we don't need to do any of that.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_03: It's all done and over with.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: And the other thing is when you retire, I have two retire, uh, two active detectives that speak to the retirees and tell them their options, which was never done before, that the DEA does now.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: When you retire, they call you down and they tell you what your benefits are and what you can get moving forward.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: It maybe if you want to join the RDNY and be involved, or anything like that, or or if you want to use these five investment companies, you could utilize that.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: We have a whole thing where they sit down with one of our members here, you know, and basically tell you this is what your opportunity is.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_03: If you want to sign over your endowment, okay, that you get.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_03: Some people don't even know at the end that they get five dollars a year, extra year.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_03: They have uh an endowment there that they receive return.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: You can actually sign that endowment money over towards your dues.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_03: Some people walk out of here not paying and you're dying for dues, for dues.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_03: So, and they're very happy with it.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it's over.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: You're not getting a letter, hey, you gotta pay 40 bucks.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: And then they look you up at the computer, oh, I can't help you.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_03: So it's which with every union does it this way.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_03: I believe the PBA actually takes it right out of the um, out of the out of the um, you know, out of their retirement, you know, out of um, you know, when it gets yearly.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: We don't, you know.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_03: So I I said, we're not gonna collect checks.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_03: I we're coming here and there's a desk full of checks that we're going through.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's crazy.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_03: Just pay the 650.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_03: Pay the 650, and then you're done, you're done.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_03: You're over with, and you'll get you'll you'll have all of these benefits, okay?
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I think there's another question we forget to ask.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_03: When they ask, why don't we have a retiree on the on on the health benefits board?
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's it if I don't think that's an option, that's not in the constitution and bylaws, but we do.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_03: We have Mike Paladino who's a retiree that cares about the health benefits board.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_03: So I wanna I'm gonna uh basically uh But is he being paid?
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Mike's paid.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: Uh listen, you used to see the job that he does, you know, going down through you know uh through this, you know.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_03: Um you have to have an administrator, you know.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I I can't administrate a fun.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: I like I said, I built the A team here, and I'm gonna still you still build this team, okay?
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm gonna do it with the best people I can moving forward.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm good.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_02: Marique, you got any more questions?
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'm I'm good.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you want to leave uh the floor open for Yeah, Scott, if you got anything else you want to add?
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, listen, I think I put it all out there.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_03: What do you think?
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't I don't know I think we covered all the bases.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh, you know, it's uh it's it's um it I will tell you it's a little it's a little uh disturbing on what's being said and what's out there.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh it's a little heartbreaking, you know, and uh it's pretty sick, you know.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I you know, I I I wanted to get this man.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_03: I want to thank you guys for um having me do this.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I want to thank you very much for thank you.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and uh and if I could do anything for you guys to help you out in any type of way or you have any questions, um I'll I'll do whatever I gotta do.
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we definitely appreciate you coming on to clear this up and to answer the questions that a lot of people have and to, you know, get the facts instead of the speculation.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I think uh I think we might have cleared a lot of that up today.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you very much for coming on.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you reaching out.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, thank you very much.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: We appreciate you speaking with us today.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for your time.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Have a great day.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: You too.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: Marik, thank you so much for putting this together.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_02: What's the name of your podcast and where can all listeners find it?
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks, Vic, for hosting.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: And everything that I have, the books and everything in the podcast is uh from your suggestions, so thank you for those.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: And you can find me on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's Mons on the Mike, uh, and I put out weekly podcasts.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_02: And what's the name of your book and where can all listeners pick up a copy?
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: 20 and out.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's on Amazon in hardcover paperback or Kindle.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: And as always, I'd like to thank everyone for tuning in, especially my listeners in Deep River, Connecticut, Jupiter, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Peoria, uh Peoria, Arizona.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_02: If you worked in law enforcement, had an interesting criminal background, please drop me a note on Twitter, Instagram at VicFerrora50.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_02: If you're watching on YouTube, please hit the like and subscribe button.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: If you like the content, check out my Amazon Winter page, just type in my name, VicFerrari Like the Car, where you can preview all my NYPD books for free.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks again, anyone, and I'll talk to you this week.