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  • 1 year ago

Government has been given a deadline of three months to sort out the problems affecting its workers under the UNI-MED plan.
It comes as the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association and the Public Services Association have teamed up in an effort to get the matter resolved.
Alicia Boucher has the details.
Transcript
00:00On Monday, officials of TUTOR and the PSA delivered a letter to Chief Personal Officer
00:05Daryl Dindial, calling on him to resolve the problems facing monthly paid government employees,
00:11including teachers, under the Unimed plan which is under M&M Insurance.
00:17The joint letter comes after previous letters and protests by TUTOR failed to yield any
00:22results pertaining to long delays in the payment of claims to workers, making deductions and
00:29even enrolment of employees into the plan.
00:32First Vice President of TUTOR Adesh Dwarka tells us, this lack of response is the reason
00:38both associations have united on the matter.
00:41Dwarka says prior to 2022, claims would take around one to two months to be settled.
00:48Subsequent to that now members have to wait two years, right, to actually access monies
00:53that are owed to them and what is very frightening is that the amount of money, it is not like
01:01we have a $20,000, the plan now is in excess of $15 million worth of claims that have already
01:07been settled, agreed to settlement, but no money to pay.
01:11TUTOR says the monthly contributions of workers, which represent 40% of the total, are still
01:16being deducted.
01:17What is absolutely horrendous is that we have members who depend on the little remittance
01:26so that they can continue to purchase medicine and continue to deal and to treat with their
01:31illness in a timely manner, right, but they cannot wait two years for a claim to be settled,
01:38right, and also members have died waiting on reimbursement.
01:42Dwarka adds that although some workers have opted for other insurance plans, because Unimet
01:48is the primary plan, the other co-insurance companies have to wait for that issue to be
01:54settled first.
01:56He says a meeting between the government and M&M insurance is needed.
02:01Based on what M&M insurance is indicating is that they need to have a meeting, they
02:05need to revisit the plan, right, they need to be able to come up with solutions to be
02:09able to deal with the issues facing the plan currently.
02:14That may mean an increase in rates, right?
02:18Now that is fine as long as the members are paid for what they are owed.
02:23We're told that the agreement for the plan was signed by both associations and the CPO,
02:29and they are making yet another plea.
02:31So we are now asking him to take the relevant steps to be able to deal and to treat with
02:36this particular issue in a timely manner.
02:38And we would have given him until the 21st of February 2025.
02:42Failing which, he says, further action will have to be taken.
02:46If it is that the membership of both associations decided, OK, it's time to go to court,
02:52and that is more than likely what's going to happen.
02:55Because we cannot have our members paying their due on a monthly basis,
03:01and nothing is being given to them in a timely manner in return.
03:05Tutor notes that an audit was conducted on the plan by the government,
03:09but the association has neither been privy to the findings nor the recommendations.
03:14Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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