In Wisconsin, about 64 percent of school districts carry health insurance offered by WEA Trust, an organization created by and still very closely affiliated with the Wisconsin Education Association, Inc. (WEAC), according to a 2010 report by the Education Action Group Foundation and the MacIver Institute.
Collective bargaining has helped the WEA Trust grow. Gov. Scott Walker’s office has said that making it such that no district is required to buy insurance through the WEA Trust could reduce health-care costs by $68 million a year, noting that “many school districts participate in WEA Trust because WEAC collectively bargains to get as many school districts across the state to participate in this union-run health insurance plan as possible.”
Coverage offered by the WEA Trust is generous. “WEA Trust offers what is commonly known as the ‘Cadillac’ of school employee health coverage,” the Education Action Group Foundation report states. “It earned that moniker for two very good reasons — the health coverage is very thorough, and the cost to local school districts is very high.”
The report also had details on the compensation received by WEA Trust executives — and their ties to the WEAC:
The company’s CEO, Fred Evart, made $333,375 in salary in 2007, with a total compensation package of $469,522, according to tax records filed by the company. Eleven employees under Evart received total compensation packages worth at least $181,792.
While technically they are separate entities, there’s little doubt that WEA Trust and WEAC, the labor union that founded it, maintain strong administrative and financial ties.
The organizations have the same home, at 33 Nob Hill Drive in Madison. Three members of the union’s “leadership team” – President Mary Bell, Director Amy Johnson and Director Suzanne Kahl – are also members of the WEA Trust board.