Biz
WC WCBJ ®
INSID DE E
WESTCHESTER COUNTY W
B BUSINESS JJOURNAL
YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com
busiNEssEs doN’t Flock to statE EXchaNgE
JOHN GOLDEN
INSIDE
March 24, 2014 | VOL. 50, No. 12
ADELAAR • 27
by JennIFer bISSell jbissell@westfairinc.com
HV
Million-pound wash
GOOD THINGS HAPPENING • 28
NEWS NOON
has found since arriving at Metro-North as its new head on Feb. 1. The federal report followed the release this month of a draft of Giulietti’s 100-day plan to improve safety at the 6,000-employee subsidiary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. At a recent press conference he said the federal report “has affirmed what we already felt were the issues going forward.” Giulietti succeeded Howard Permut, a MetroNorth executive for 30 years who in January resigned as president after a series of accidents and derailments last year on Metro-North lines. Metro-North, page 6
Exchange, page 6
page 2
@
Sign up now at westfaironline.com
David Potack on the floor of his family’s Unitex Textile Rental Services plant in Mount Vernon.
feds to metro-north: change the culture by JOHn GOlDen jgolden@westfairinc.com
feDeral railroaD aDministration officials said their severely critical report to Congress this month on the accident-plagued Metro-North Railroad is “an urgent call to action” for MetroNorth leaders to derail the railroad’s current organizational culture and turn the nation’s second largest commuter line into “a model of safe railroad operations.” Metro-North Railroad President Joseph J. Giulietti called the federal report “deeply troubling” and said it raises “real concerns” that he too
T
he New York State of Health marketplace for small business health plans is so far an unpopular option. Of the nearly 600,000 people who enrolled in health plans through the state’s exchange as of March 10, only 5,000 signed up through the Small Business Marketplace. Both small employers and individuals have until March 31 to sign up for 2014 coverage through the exchange. However, many employers say the exchange’s plans haven’t been the right fit, said James Schutzer, an insurance broker with J.D. Moschitto & Associates Inc. in White Plains. “People find them unattractive,” Schutzer said. “If you use it, it’s likely because you have a tax credit. But that only applies to a few businesses.” Nearly every employer’s health plan has been modified to comply with the Affordable Care Act, increasing renewal rates for some. But even when employers have been dissatisfied with rates, they haven’t found a solution on the exchange. One of Schutzer’s clients, Mitchell Taube, an Elmsford business owner, looked into the exchange when he saw an increase in his rates with Oxford Health Plans, but its network of available doctors was inadequate for his 30 employees, Taube said. Only two plans are available on the exchange for Westchester businesses and the coverage network is primarily limited to New York and New Jersey, Schutzer said. Employees who live in Connecticut, for example, wouldn’t have access to care within their state. Taube said he was happy to see several of his employees were eligible for subsidies on the individual marketplace, but chose not to use the Small Business Marketplace for group coverage. The plans available on the Small Business Marketplace are the same if directly purchased from an insurance provider, said Schutzer, president-elect of the New York State Association