GE faces lawsuit over insurance coverage

General Electric is being sued by two former employees who object to health insurance changes affecting thousands of River Works retirees that were instituted, according to a company spokesman, to increase company coverage options.Former GE union relations manager Dennis Rocheleau of New York and retired benefits executive Evelyn Kauffman of New York contend in a federal court filing that the company violated federal law by changing retirees? supplemental health care coverage.?The company acted illegally in deciding to strip salaried retirees of this valuable supplemental health coverage, which they earned over long, productive careers with GE,” Rocheleau wrote in a statement.But Rivers Works spokesman Richard Gorham said GE?s decision, starting in 2015, to “provide former salaried retirees with access to private health care exchange ? is consistent with trends among large companies.”The change does not affect union workers in Lynn and across the country yet, said International Union of Electrical Workers Local 201 business agent Ric Casilli. But he said retirees? health care is sure to emerge as a bargaining issue between GE union and company negotiators.The insurance disagreement centers on letters sent to retirees in September and in 2012. The 2012 letter, said Rocheleau, warned retirees who will not turn 65 years old by the end of 2014 that they will lose coverage eligibility.The 2014 letter stated salaried retirees 65 and older would see their supplemental health care plans terminate at the end of the year.Gorham said GE is helping retirees through the change by providing a $1,000 annual reimbursement account and the company plans to “make available to eligible participants the GE Pharmacy Assistance Fund to help offset catastrophic prescription drug expenses.”GE salaried retiree Robert Risch is one of the thousands from the River Works who Gorham acknowledges will be affected by the insurance changes. A longtime Nahant resident who now lives mostly in Florida with his wife, Nancy, Risch said an initial review of his new coverage indicates it is “about the same cost and coverage” compared to the insurance he formerly received.But Risch, who retired in 2007 as GE government relations manager for New England after a 38-year career, said he and other retirees were caught off-guard by the coverage changes.?We all understand cost competitiveness, but this insurance change was a bit of a surprise: A lot of us were disappointed,” he said.In his statement, Rocheleau said the $1,000 a year GE will pay salaried retirees is “significantly less” than the company is currently spending on individual retirees. The lawsuit seeks to block GE from ending coverage and to preserve current insurance coverage levels.Gorham, in an e-mail, said GE does not “believe the suit has merit” and said the coverage change “allows GE to offer greater choice in coverage while striking a balance among our obligations to employees, retirees and shareowners.”