New Survey Finds Many Medicare, Obamacare Federal Call Center Workers Rely on Safety Net Programs Due to Low Wages, Cannot Afford Their Own Health Care

Today, on the first day of the Medicare open enrollment period, Communications Workers of America (CWA) and Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) unveiled a new report surveying Maximus workers at Medicare, Affordable Care Act (ACA) and CDC call centers across nine states about their ability to make ends meet and support their families on the wages and benefits they earn working for Maximus, a massive federal contractor.

Maximus, Inc. operates the largest federally-contracted call centers in the country under contracts with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), both part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Maximus workers handle millions of calls for 1-800-Medicare and the Federal Affordable Care Act Marketplace under a nine-year, $6.6 billion federal contract. These customer service agents are predominantly Black and Latina women, at twelve call centers mostly located in the South.

SEE THE FULL BRIEF HERE: https://cwa-union.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/20230114_1_800_bad_jobs.pdf

Topline findings from the survey include:

• 9 in 10 workers surveyed report that they are the primary earner in their household, and 6 in 10 live in households with children under 18.
• 8 in 10 (83%) of workers surveyed who have kids under 18 report that their household is using one or more safety net programs, including support for essential needs such as healthcare and food.
• Although most respondents have health insurance through their jobs at the call center, the costs associated with this coverage remain very high. Nine in 10 workers report that they have medical debt and have avoided/postponed medical treatment due to concerns about cost. Many respondents report having two or more forms of medical debt.
• While Maximus has nearly doubled its revenues in the past five years and spent hundreds of millions of dollars on payouts to executives and shareholders, 91% of the surveyed workers who have made that growth possible report earning less than $19 per hour, and 32 percent report earning less than $17 per hour—significantly less than the living wage needed to sustain a household with children in the areas where they live and work.

Today, Maximus workers announced that they are ready to strike during ACA/Medicare open enrollment on November 9th if their calls for livable wages and better working conditions continue to go unanswered. Workers are calling for more affordable healthcare, a living wage of at least $25 per hour, protection from unfair layoffs, and the ability to organize their union free from employer intimidation. These concerns are of particular importance with the upcoming busy season.

“As a parent, it is almost impossible to pay bills on Maximus wages,” said Christina Jimenez, who answers calls from Medicare participants at Maximus. “My kids and I live with family, but we’d probably be homeless otherwise. While the company makes millions for its shareholders and executives, I’ve gone without meals in order to make sure my kids have food on the table. I care deeply about my work helping people to access their health care coverage, but without any response from Maximus about our demands, I have no other choice but to go on strike.”

Communications Workers of America (CWA), who has been organizing these workers, is calling for an HHS investigation of Maximus as the Biden administration grapples with health care workers striking across the country.

CWA points to how Maximus falls far short of providing the kind of federal contractor jobs that the Biden administration aspires to create: Biden has made clear commitments to advancing racial equity and supporting workers to organize unions, including in the federal workforce. But as the largest federal call center contractor, Maximus has not aligned with Biden’s commitments, coming under fire after complaints of low wages and minimal protections from abusive callers in the workplace, allegations of union-busting, and unsafe working conditions. The union is calling for HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate Maximus’ labor practices to determine whether it is fulfilling its obligations as a federal contractor.

“Federal call center workers at Maximus have been organizing with CWA to fight for living wages, affordable healthcare, fair treatment and a voice on the job," said Claude Cummings, Jr., CWA President. "President Biden has made clear that he expects federal contractors like Maximus to provide good jobs. This survey proves that Maximus is offering nothing but bad jobs to the Black and Brown women who are the backbone of its federal call centers. Workers who help millions of Americans access healthcare but can’t afford to support their own families or go to the doctor, while the CEO and shareholders make hundreds of millions of dollars. Enough is enough. These workers don’t want to strike, disrupting services for millions of Americans, but they’ve been left with no other choice. CWA is ready to support these workers until they win justice.”

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