MNA: Brigham and Women's Hospital Provides Nurses with Health Insurance Plan that Violates State Law, Imposing Tax Penalties after Nurses Avoided Strike with Agreement about Insurance Choice

BWH cut short its health insurance enrollment period and was late in providing information to nurses, who are now faced with paying huge tax penalties if they choose hard-fought MNA insurance plan

BOSTON, Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital are infuriated and scrambling to make significant, last-minute decisions about their healthcare after the hospital belatedly informed nurses that two of BWH's health insurance plans do not comply with state law and that nurses who use the plans could be subject to hundreds or thousands of dollars in tax penalties. The non-compliance and tax penalties could affect approximately 2,000 Brigham nurses and their families.

As a shortened open enrollment period began two weeks ago, nurses received notification that the hospital's selected and designed Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC) and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans do not meet Minimum Creditable Coverage (MCC) requirements taking effect January 1, 2025, under the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law. The plans have out-of-pocket expenses for preventative care, triggering the penalty.

Nurses immediately grew concerned not just about the potential expense, but also because the hospital had in August agreed to a new MNA contract that included a key provision about health insurance. The agreement, averting a potential one-day strike, enabled BWH nurses to choose during the length of their contract whether to switch between MGB and MNA health insurance plans.

The HPHC and BCBS plans are MNA plans, protected from unilateral cost increases by the hospital through union contract provisions.  Many Brigham nurses had been dissatisfied with MGB health insurance, experiencing long wait times for appointments and imaging, as well as out-of-network costs, and submitted a petition signed by 3,300+ nurses seeking the ability to choose insurance other than MGB.

BWH did not provide information about the HPHC and BCBS plans violating MCC requirements during contract negotiations. Nurses only began finding out because of notifications on their portal. The hospital then only provided additional information after MNA nurses repeatedly inquired and asked for an open enrollment extension to allow nurses more time to decide which plans suit their needs. In the past, nurses were given a month for open enrollment. This year it was shortened to two weeks. The hospital has refused to provide an extension.

"Our phones, email inboxes and social media are flooded with Brigham nurses angry with the hospital about what seems like either deceit or incompetence," said Kelly Morgan, a Brigham labor and delivery nurse and BWH MNA Chair. "We made an agreement in good faith about health insurance two months ago and now the hospital is surprising us with huge tax penalties for a health plan they selected that violates state law. Nurses are making critical decisions right now about how to care for themselves and their families, and the hospital has created utter chaos and confusion."

Nurses are seeking help in two main ways to resolve this issue:

• After pressure from nurses, BWH said it will apply for waivers from the MCC requirements, but not until November. Nurses are in contact with elected officials to help expedite this process.
• If the tax penalties take effect, nurses have called on BWH to cover those costs for all nurses affected.

"The hospital has completely lost the trust of its nurses with this fiasco," Morgan said. "BWH management is not holding itself accountable and instead seems fine to upend the lives of nurses who are the backbone of this hospital. If a waiver is not granted or is delayed, there is a simple fix: The hospital can cover any tax penalties incurred by nurses and begin to heal its relationship with us."

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association