![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
Few Port Truckers * USA - Can afford health insurance
The study seems to confirm what critics of the independent driver system have argued all along - owner-operator drivers, like many Americans, simply don't make enough money to purchase quality health care
Long Beach,CA,USA -The Long Beach Press-Telegram, by Kristopher Hanson -2 June 2008: -- A port-funded study on health care options for independent truck drivers in San Pedro Bay paints a mostly bleak picture for drivers and their families, who face high costs, limited coverage and the likelihood of rejection by insurance companies... The study, presented Monday to Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissioners, estimates that 40 percent of drivers would probably be denied by insurance companies because of existing health issues that could include asthma or high-blood pressure, and high costs could force many to enroll their children in taxpayer-funded health care programs... The so-called "Clean Truck" programs were adopted primarily to slash the high level of poisonous diesel soot spewed by roughly 17,000 rigs hauling goods in and out of local ports each day... But while clean air was the primary goal, concession agreements were also written to fix what harbor commissioners have termed a "broken trucking industry."... Studies show most of these drivers, who comprise: 90 percent of the harbor workforce and are paid by the load, earn about $11 per hour after expenses like fuel and vehicle maintenance... The great majority are uninsured. To assist them, Long Beach commissioned Alliant Insurance Services in March to study affordable health-care options for the self-employed... While the report found that options are indeed available, without serious driver wage increases, most remain out of reach... Alliant researcher Mark Menzia noted that cheaper group rates are not available because contract drivers aren't legally classified as employees of motor carriers... Harbor Commission President Mario Cordero said the report highlights the hurdles drivers face in moving off the public health-care system...
Labels: lower-income port truckers
posted by Unknown @ 4:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home