TTUTA writes to CPO on $33m health costs

TTUTA president Martin Lum Kin delivered a letter on August 15 to the St Clair office of Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Dr Daryl Dindial urging his help to speed up the payment of medical insurance refunds to teachers, estimated at over $33 million.

Some 14 union members joined Lum Kin in front of the Alexandra Street building, marching, clapping hands and singing union songs.

Teachers are among the 30,000 members of the Unimed group health plan, administered by a committee of representatives of the CPO, Ministry of Finance, TTUTA and Public Services Association (PSA).

The Government, as employer, contributes 60 per cent to the plan, and employees 40 per cent.

Lum Kin told reporters, "We have been struggling for the last year or two with the Unimed plan with regards to the payment of claims persons would have sent in. Usually it should take about four-six weeks (but) at present it is taking 13 months."

He said it had been taking longer and longer for teachers' claims to be paid. "We are well informed – because TTUTA is part of the management committee – that it is because the plan is in the red, there is a deficit at this time. And you are talking about tens of millions of dollars.

"We take note that the major medicals are being given priority to the normal claims."

He said claims for doctors' visits and medicines took 13 months to be reimbursed by Unimed.

"We are calling on the Personnel Department, CPO and Ministry of Finance as the employer, the chairman of the committee, as well as the entity responsible for the Unimed plan, (to ensure) that these claims are paid in a short time frame, to do what is necessary."

Lum Kin said this was especially so as the CPO had seen an internal audit on the plan and sent it to the ministry.

"We are not aware of the contents of that audit. However we are strongly recommending that the contents be applied, the recommendations be applied, as soon as possible."He said TTUTA members were suffering. "They are playing with the lives of our members, by not having the claims paid on time. Enough is enough.

"To us it is quite disturbing when we get reports daily of persons not getting back their claims on time, having to pay the medical institutions or the pharmacy with their limited funding."

Replying to Newsday, he said the audit was commissioned by the Personnel Department and Finance Ministry.

"We did ask for a copy of the audit, being part of the Unimed management committee.

"We were told quite frankly and blatantly that audit does not concern us at this time."

He explained the $33 million deficit.

"When claims are sent in and processed, if there are not sufficient funds at the time, then it will be like a deficit or a 'run' on the plan."

Lum Kin said more than $33 million must be spent to meet this deficit. He said 14,000-15,000 teachers are members of the plan.

"Roughly, there are 1,000 who are owed at this time.

"They have now started to process the end of 2023. So it is about 13 months. We are looking at probably July 2023 that they are now paying out."

Newsday tried but was unable to contract Dindial.

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Brian Manning told Newsday via WhatsApp, "Sorry, not authorized to make a comment. The Minister of Finance will soon."

Newsday also asked about school vacation repairs. Lum Kin said the Ministry of Education had not yet supplied TTUTA with a list of schools to be repaired in the July/August period. He said ageing schools need repairs to their electrical systems, toilets, classrooms, ventilation and other things.

Lum Kin said Mount Hope Secondary School needed repairs.

"I have seen vegetation growing out of one of the buildings. I saw a tree top growing out of that classroom. If you are challenged with infrastructure and classrooms, there are certain subjects that suffer."

He said the authorities cite financial constraints, but education must be prioritised, even if by withdrawals from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund.

Newsday asked about the ministry's vacation remedial lessons programme for low-performing primary-school pupils heading to secondary school.

Lum Kin said in addition to that programme, there was an after-school remedial programme, for which teachers had not been paid in December 2024 or January 2024. He said the Ministry of Education recently revealed that two of the country's 80 "schools of focus" which offer remedial classes had been among the top-scoring schools in the results of the recent Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) Exam.

"We look forward to a report from the Ministry of Education which would show the impact of that programme on the nation's education – our children and our teachers.

"However, we want to sound a word of caution that the ministry does not use the statistics to say we need to increase the working days of the school, to reduce the vacation programme."

He had no information on the "buy-in" by pupils and parents to the vacation remedial programme.