VEBA ~ Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. & USWA

Health-plan ruling promised ASAP
Fund for 30,000 Goodyear retirees' health care must receive approval from judge
By Jim Mackinnon Beacon Journal business writer
Published on Thursday, Jul 24, 2008

And now for the $1 billion question:

When will a federal judge rule on an independent health-care trust for Goodyear's Steelworker retirees, the key issue in contract talks that led to an 85-day strike in 2006?
District Court Judge John R. Adams said ''as soon as possible'' at the conclusion of closing statements that ended a hearing Wednesday in his Akron courtroom. Adams, who is charged with giving the final thumbs up or down on the Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, has said he needs to make sure the proposed plan is fair and economically viable.
The plan is designed to provide health-care benefits to about 30,000 retired Steelworkers, including thousands of retirees and their spouses in the Greater Akron area. Goodyear ultimately agreed to make a one-time payment of $1 billion into the plan, after which it would not be responsible for providing health-care benefits to the union retirees. Current working Steelworkers will be required to pay a portion of cost-of-living increases and profit-sharing into the plan. Adams spent much of Wednesday asking lawyers and witnesses if the union membership was adequately informed about how the VEBA works. Steelworkers official Ron Bloom, a former investment banker, said he thought the Goodyear union members understood the issues.The union has agreed to VEBAs at other companies, including steel companies that have since gone bankrupt, he said. If there is no VEBA and Goodyear goes out of business, retirees will get no company-provided health-care benefits, he said. A VEBA could keep providing benefits, although probably not forever, he said. ''We are often called to choose between non-ideal alternatives,'' Bloom said. An actuarial consultant filed papers saying that the VEBA could, with $1- to $1.80-an-hour contributions from active workers, remain stable for 30 years. More information is available at http://www.goodyear-veba-settlement.com. Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.

Editorial : Bottom line, Goodyear does`nt give a flip about its retiree`s ! So, We`re hoping that the Union does ?

Diagnosis` "Pulmonary Hypertension" ! Definition =

Dr. Mark Wigger Dr. Bonnie Slovis

Definition of Pulmonary Hypertension...

Our Pulmonary hypertension Main Article provides a comprehensive look at the who, what, when and how of Pulmonary hypertension Pulmonary hypertension: High blood pressure in the pulmonary artery that conveys blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. The pressure in the pulmonary artery is normally low compared to that in the aorta. Pulmonary hypertension can irrevocably damage the lungs and cause failure of the right ventricle. Pulmonary hypertension is conventionally divided into primary and secondary types. Primary pulmonary hypertension is considered idiopathic (of unknown origin). It occurs sporadically with no family history of the disorder and in a familial form. Secondary pulmonary hypertension may be due to congenital heart disease, pulmonary embolism, portal hypertension, collagen vascular disorders (such as lupus), sarcoidosis, and HIV infection. The goals of treatment for pulmonary hypertension are to treat the underlying cause, to reduce symptoms and improve quality of life, to slow the growth of the smooth muscle cells and the development of blood clots; and to increase the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart, while reducing its workload. Treatments include medications, oxygen, and lung transplant. The main medications for pulmonary hypertension include: anticoagulants (to reduce the formation of blood clots); calcium channel blockers, which relax blood vessels and increase the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart, while reducing its workload; continuous intravenous epoprostenol (prostacyclin currently considered the most effective therapy) which widens the lung arteries and prevents blood clot formation; treprostinil, another prostacyclin, also relaxes blood vessels and increases the supply of blood to the lungs, reducing the workload of the heart; bosentan, a relatively new treatment that widens the lung arteries and reduces blood pressure; nitric oxide inhalation, which causes the pulmonary arteries to widen or open; Viagra (sildenafil) which causes the pulmonary arteries to open; and diuretics which may help ease symptoms and improve the heart's performance in some patients with pulmonary hypertension.

The term "pulmonary hypertension" is composed of "pulmonary" for lung, "hyper" for high, and "tension" for blood pressure = pulmonary high blood pressure, or pulmonary hypertension.

Editorial : (Above is my Diagnoses) I have been having a breathing problem for almost three years now. I was referred to Vanderbilt Pulmonary, Dr. Bonnie Slovis. She had a heck of a time diagnosing me. Finally, she conferred with Heart-Transplant Dr. Mark Wigger. They put me in the Vanderbilt University Hospital on Monday July 7, 2008. After a right heart and left heart cath, and a biopsy. They concluded that I had pulmonary hypertension. They are now treating me with Nitro-Bid 1 inch strip(nitroglycerin) of paste on body every every 8 hours. I`ll try to keep you updated ! There is a lot, I do not understand, quite yet !

"Give The Gift of Life, The Only Cost is a Little Love"