Dear USA member,

At this morning's Group Insurance Commission (GIC) vote meeting, the GIC Commissioners elected to postpone the vote to approve the disastrous cuts to your health care. The rationale given was to take additional time to "study the potential impacts" of these cuts.

This slide presented at today's meeting reflects the feedback the GIC has received from you and your colleagues across the Commonwealth. It's absolutely clear that the GIC has been moved by your stories of fear, anger, and exhaustion at the insurance system at a time when you're feeling the squeeze the most.

USA member Sarah Babcock, a clerk in the Financial Aid office, describes the disastrous effects of these cuts for her family at a "Hands Off Our Healthcare" event at the Commonwealth Honors College event hall on February 10th.

Through your emails and phone calls to the GIC, attendance in GIC meetings and events, and by talking to your coworkers about the untenable impact of the proposed changes, your overwhelming support for the needs of yourself and your colleagues was moving.

"I would like to introduce a motion to delay the vote on any additional design changes until we have all had a chance to read more than 500 pages of pleas from the members we serve, to whom we provide health insurance," said GIC Vice Chair Bobbi Kaplan during the meeting. The calls of opposition were amplified by letters of opposition by all 12 members of the Springfield City Council, 60 members of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives, and over 20 from the Massachusetts State Senate.

To see the results of your advocacy in action, take a look at the GIC meeting link below!

So... What's next?

While the GIC Commission works on establishing a timeline for the next vote (and reads through all of your emails!), we have a little bit of time to breathe. But make no mistake: the fight is not over, and we encourage you to continue having these hard conversations with your coworkers, and keep an eye on MTA's GIC information page for the next steps in this fight.