(ALBANY, NEW YORK) - Every Union in the United States is dealing with a plethora of problems when it comes to providing health care for their Members and getting them to take advantage of it - but something is happening across the country that’s saving Unions and their Members a great deal of money when it comes to health care, and - in the process, is helping save lives by discovering physical problems before they become life-threatening.

A number of Unions’ Health and Pension Funds are partnering with a leading Advanced Primary Care Provider - Marathon Health, to offer their Members an array of “exclusive and consistent” managed health care services - incredibly with no deductibles, co-pays or out-of-pocket costs, extended personal access to Caregivers and all that goes with it in their own on-site/near-site Health Care/Wellness Centers, which they invest in to make happen.

Marathon Health and their Union clientele co‑design and operate the Centers that are tailored to the individual Union’s needs, with negotiated pricing, comprehensive services and a focus on preventive, pro-active care.

Labor Representatives tell WNYLaborToday.com the Marathon model improves access, engagement and health outcomes - while helping Unions control their health care costs.

Case in point #1, U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 7 in Latham, New York - which has 1,300 Members, including 950 who are active.

One of them – 39-year-old Local 7 Member Mike Keary was diagnosed with pneumonia during an appointment he made at the Union’s brand new 2,500-square-foot Health Care Center (Pictured Below/Courtesy Of Marathon Health).

“I’m ‘really glad I went and didn’t wait any longer,’” Keary, a 13-year Union Member, told WNYLaborToday.com. “I ‘wasn’t on my death bed, but I’d gotten sick and let it linger for three weeks.’ I ‘couldn’t walk up the stairs without being out of breath.’ My lungs ‘were full of fluid.’ I saw the Doc who told me I had pneumonia and he put me on antibiotics.”

Keary (Pictured Below - On The Left, With Local 7 Business Manager Ed Nadeau/Joe Wild Photo), who said he was more than happy his Union now has its own Health Clinic, had not-so-good experiences going to the Doctor’s Office in the past - which possibly delayed him from initially going to Local 7’s Clinic: “I ‘did not get great care where I was’ (before). In fact, they ‘dropped my bloodwork four times and they couldn’t provide me with any results each time.’ ‘Now, knock on wood, I’m absolutely happy.’ ‘So many times you sit and wait to see your Doctor for like (45) minutes and then he only sees you for three minutes.’ ‘Now, my Doc (at the Union Clinic) takes (45) minutes talking to me and I leave with my medication in hand instead of heading out to a pharmacy’ (to get a prescription filled). I’m telling (his fellow Local 7 Brothers and Sisters) who didn’t know all about it: ‘Hey guys, you get more time to spend with your Doctor and you don’t have to wait (for a long period of time in a waiting room). ‘They cater to us and you can’t beat that.’ I worked (10) years Non-Union, ‘so I can speak first-hand to this – a Union provides you with more benefits and this is just one of them.’”

Ed Nadeau, who serves as Business Manager and Financial Secretary for Local 7, tells WNYLaborToday.com: “(The Clinic) ‘was one of the best things we have ever done.’ ‘Our Members - and their families, can now go there for everything from physicals to blood work and I think they are now doing so because of word of mouth.’ ‘This saves us money too because you don’t have your Members going to Hospital Emergency Rooms or Emergency Care Centers.’ We were spending ($500,000 to $600,000) a year on ‘non-emergency’ visits for our Members, ‘but now we’re making our Members healthier, including some who we have found are pre-diabetic.’ ‘We want to make sure they enjoy their retirement and live to see it.’”

Case In Point #2, while this may be hard to believe, Carl Pecoraro - who serves as Chairman/Trustee of the Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund, tells WNYLaborToday.com that over the past 10 years, the total increase – each year to his Union’s medical costs have been less than 1% because of the two Health Care Clinics his Union operates on Cleveland’s East and West Sides.

“The ‘whole idea here was to get our Members in and identify their health conditions early - and we’ve had great results because it helps control (health care) costs.’ ‘Our plan really works.’ Our Members call Marathon and ‘get every question answered.’ Our Physicians ‘find things early instead of dealing with it later.’ We even have a virtual Nutritionist ‘who’s helped one of our Members drop (60) pounds.’ Wellness ‘drives savings and it’s showing in our health care rates, which results in better wages for our Members.’ We had one Member come in for a physical and they ‘immediately called for an ambulance because he was on the verge of a heart attack.’ We had another who needed a knee replacement who we hooked up with an Orthopedic Surgeon and ‘he didn’t pay a penny’ (for the surgery). ‘It’s unheard of.’ ‘I recommend this (to any Union) in a second.’ I get asked all the time: ‘How do you do it?’ ‘It’s a better way to deliver health care to our Members, but it all only works if our Members take advantage of it,’” Pecoraro said.

In the end, strong primary care leads to better clinical outcomes and lower costs, according to Representatives of Marathon Health, which partners with employer and Union plan sponsors - including the Albany Plumbers & Steamfitters and Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters - to improve the health of Working People and Union Membership.

With their on-site/near-site network Centers, as well as offered virtual primary care, Marathon provides its updated list of 150 Union clients with a value-based model that enhances the health care experience for Union Members, while driving meaningful cost savings for plan sponsors.

Marathon Health’s national network of Centers also includes 70 Taft-Hartley Welfare Funds that collectively represent more than 450,000 Union Members and their families, as well as 225-plus Public Sector Organizations with an additional 600,000 eligible members.

In all, Marathon Health serves three million eligible members across 41 States while touting its deep “experience serving” Taft-Hartley Funds and Labor-affiliated Trusts - populations their Representatives say share many of the Fund’s defining characteristics, including diverse eligibility rules, multiple stakeholders and a strong emphasis on stewardship of Plan assets.

And it would seem their success is continuing as Marathon Health just announced an expansion of its open-access Centers and services to Detroit, Kansas City, Raleigh-Durham, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

This move continues Marathon Health’s focus on bringing best-in-class primary care to areas especially challenged by access, supply, quality and affordability.

“We’re ‘driving a different perspective, looking at preventative care and changing behaviors,” said Brian Cappel, who serves as the Vice President of Taft-Hartley Plans for Marathon Health. “We’ve ‘made access convenient with brick-and-motor locations, which Unions can own, that eliminates the need for urgent’ care visits. ‘You have to take care of your equipment on the job and we need to do the same thing with our bodies.’ ‘With most all of our Union clients, it gets back to us that these Centers save people’s lives.’”

With more than 20 years of Taft-Hartley experience, Cappel brings a uniquely informed perspective shaped by extensive work inside multiple Fund Offices.

Prior to joining Marathon Health, he served as Director of Operations for the Midwest International Union of Operating Engineers Fringe Benefit Fund (IUOE) Local 150, leading a team of over 100 Staff Members delivering services to more than 55,000 individuals - annually.

Throughout his career, Cappel - whose work is centered on improving health care access, quality and outcomes for Union Members and their families, with a strong emphasis on lifestyle improvement and chronic condition management, has overseen the launch of dozens of new Centers and has provided strategic support to more than 100 Centers a years across the U.S

“This ‘has just taken off,’” he said.

Joe Wild, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of National Labor Solutions Group - which is working with Marathon Health, has approached several Unions here in Western New York and in Rochester about the possibility of investing in and creating their own Health Care/Wellness Centers in partnership with Marathon Health.

While Wild, who declined to specifically say which Unions he’s had discussions with, tells WNYLaborToday.com the Union Centers “don’t conflict” with what their health care providers offer.

“It’s ‘just unbelievable,’” said Wild, who personally toured Union Health Centers in Philadelphia with a 12,000-Member IUOE Local and in Albany with U.A. Plumbers Local 7, and is more than upbeat on what the Centers can do for a Union and its Members.

“You ‘can get to see a Doctor the same day or the next day - guaranteed.’ ‘And that goes for a Member’s Family, age three and up.’ The average appointment is (42) minutes and you talk to a Doctor all that time, ‘not the usual (10) minutes or so that you get elsewhere.’ ‘In the end,’ it ‘minimizes the noise’ and serves their Memberships,” said Wild, who’s built a track record of working with and helping a variety of Labor Unions with their health care needs.

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: To Learn More, Go To Marathon Health’s Website At: https://marathon.health. And, Watch CBS 6 News in Albany’s Report On Local 7’s New primary care clinic opens in Latham for UA Local 7 members ahead of hiring boom