From: cjones@physci.ucla.edu (Chad Jones)
Subject: HELP!  PWA is losing his insurance
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1
Organization: UCLA Physiological Science
Date: 22 Dec 92 08:23:05 PST

This was sent to me with a request that it be posted.


> THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER THAT MICHAEL TIDMUS, AN INSTRUCTOR AT OTIS ART
> INSTITUTE IN CALIFORNIA, WISHES TO BE CIRCULATED AMONG ARTS COMMUNITIES.
>
>
>
> To: ALL
> Subject" BETRAYAL
>
> We are all sadly aware of the neglect--and outright abuse--the Federal
Govern-
> ment, insurance companies, and corporate America have heaped upon those
of us
> living with HIV infection.  Day-to-day life is difficult
enough--dealing with  H
> relentless testing, medical specialists, and hospitalizations; always
wondering
> if this little cough is going to develop into something worse;
wondering if that
> little blemish on your leg was there yesterday, the week before?  I do
not have
> to mention what it is like to watch friends and loved ones die cruel
and point-
> less deaths. Our bitterness is amplified when that neglect or abuse
comes from s
> quarters in which we had placed trust and had expected support--our
colleagues,
> co-workers, and employers.
>
> I have been employed as an insructor at Otis Art Institute in Los
Angeles
> since 1988. At the time I was hired, I was promised in writing my
health in-
> surance and a modest life insurance policy.  For the past four years, I
have
> been a model teacher--never missed a class due to an HIV related
illness, con-
> sistently garnered the highest possible marks on faculty evaluations,
and      c
> worked many hours beyond my contractual commitment to establish a
computer
> graphics program.  Each semester, unpaid, I assumed the tutelage of two
or
> three students in independent studies.
>
> Fully aware of my precarious medical condition, the Dean, Roger Workman
and
> the Personnel Director, Marilyn Sherman, have found a legal loophole
through
> which they contrived to terminate my health insurance--ostensibly as a
cost-
> cutting measure.  At the end of this semester, my COBRA insurance
extension
> will terminate and I will be both uninsured and, worse yet, virtually
un-
> insurable.  I will be forced to seek medical attention from the County
of
> Los Angeles.
>
> The critical issue for me has always been access to the insurance
promised; I
> have offered repeatedly to pay 100 percent of the cost myself.  To the
shame
> of Otis's administration, Dean Workman and Ms. Sherman fail to see the
> ethical aspect of this situation, and have, in fact, retained legal
counsel
> at a cost far in excess of the 25 percent they had previously co-paid
> toward the cost of my insurance.  Let me restate that: I paid 75
percent of
> the cost of my insurance premium.  Their contribution has amounted to
only a
> quarter of the cost.
>
> In my despair, all too familiar to those of of who have survived a
decade of
> trickle-down compassion, I am turning to the AIDS and arts communities
for sup-
> port.  I am asking--in fact, imploring--each of you as individuals and
or-
> ganizations to write to the
>
> Otis School of Art and Design
> Board of Trustees Chairperson, Elaine Goldsmith
> 2401 Wilshire Boulevard
> Los Angeles, California 90057
>
>
>
> and demand that the college's promise of insurance, made to me in
writing at
> the time I contracted to work for Otis and clearly stated in its faculty
> handbook, be honored and that my medical insurance and modest life
insuracnce
> policy be reinstated exactly as it existed at the time that Dean
Workman can-
> celed it.  Further, as a gesture of solidarity, I request that your
letter or
> postcard be clearly marked in red with the word, "SHAME."
>
> In advance, thank you very much for your time and effort. Take care and
stay
> well.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Michael Tidmus
>
> PS: Please feel free to publish, distribute, copy, repost or reproduce
this
> information in any way you are able.
>
>
>
>
> Michael Joseph
> Rare Book & Jerseyana Catalog Librarian
> Rutgers University Libraries
> TAS Building, Busch Campus
> Piscataway, N.J.
>
>         908/932-5904
>         MJOSEPH@ZODIAC

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chad Jones                 | Do I need someone here to scold me or do I
Network Manager            | need someone who'll grab and pull me out of
UCLA Physiological Science | this four poster dull torpor pulling
cjones@physci.ucla.        | downward?                 -- 10,000 Maniacs
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