While the Trump tax breaks were being debated in 2018, many saw the plan as merely a massive corporate giveaway, and doubted that much or any of the windfall would be fairly shared with workers.
The results of the law’s first year are beginning to answer these questions, and negotiations between South Florida health workers and their employers suggest that workers have not benefitted from corporate tax breaks.
Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), for instance, publicly announced to the media in May 2018 that it would use the majority of its tax savings — reported at more than $500 million — to invest in additional worker benefits.
Major news outlets from around the nation reported on the announced plan to add family leave, tuition and student loan benefits for hospital workers.
If true, that idea sounded like an excellent plan for thousands of employees at 19 HCA-affiliated hospitals in the state and eight facilities in South Florida. In Broward County, these include University Hospital, Westside Regional, Plantation General Hospital and Northwest Medical Center.
However, despite the tax windfall and HCA’s almost $4 billion in profits for 2018, HCA-affiliated hospitals recently proposed a significant change in the contract with healthcare workers and their union, 1199SEIU Florida. The hospitals proposed eliminating key benefits, particularly a dental plan, to pay for the programs originally tied to the tax savings announcement and corporate publicity.
The targeted dental plan covers about 6,000 workers in Florida.
These cuts would be in addition to other recent changes HCA-affiliated hospitals already have made that decrease the interest employees can earn on their retirement plans and significantly increase out-of-pocket costs for certain prescription drugs. Workers who need insulin, for example, now will see their monthly co-pays increase from $30 to $200 per prescription, even if a generic drug is not available. That is substantial money for any working family.
Already hit with the previous cuts, 1199SEIU members strongly rejected the new proposed cuts based on their rights under their labor contract. In recent votes across all HCA-affiliated hospitals in the state, members overwhelmingly defeated their employers’ plans for additional cuts.
Workers should not have to make this choice. They do want and need paid family leave and tuition assistance. But they can’t afford to trade away dental insurance and retirement benefits, especially when they’ve already suffered cuts to 401K contributions and affordable prescription coverage.
Our members and their fellow health workers are dedicated professionals, committed to providing their top efforts to the hospitals and the finest care to their patients, while often struggling to make ends meet here in South Florida.
In contrast, employers with massive profits and immense tax breaks can afford to invest in new employee benefits without cutting other benefits that working families desperately need.
All these companies that cheered on the new tax law and quickly claimed that savings would be invested and shared fairly with employees should now follow through on those plans…with no strings attached.
