Retirees' Corner 11/2009

Retirees’ Corner

Bill Bowers, Chairman

V.E.B.A. IS COMING: Over the next few months, until January 1, 2010, you will receive a lot of paperwork concerning the VEBA Health Care Coverage. It is not necessary for you to do anything except review it to understand the process.

At the end of September 2009, you received a notice on monies being moved from the old VEBA to the new VEBA. With the loss of the vision and dental coverage in July, 2009, some money remains in the old VEBA account. Per the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) all parties must be notified before any monies can be moved to the new VEBA in January 2010. The plan participants (the retirees) have to be notified that the ERISA is going to allow a plan to plan transfer of assets. That is the explanation of the notice received. You do not have to do anything.

In early November 2009 you will receive an introduction from the new VEBA which I will explain later in the Retirees’ Corner. In December you will receive your new ID cards and a summary plan description (SPD). The SPD will explain what is covered by the VEBA. It should not be anything different than our current coverage.

This information was in last month’s See Here – it created some questions. We are repeating the information to hopefully answer your questions.

Remember, as of January 1, 2010, two (2) things will happen:

1. GM will no longer be responsible for health care coverage

2. Health care coverage will be determined by the financial health of the VEBA and the eleven (11) member trustee panel.

VEBA UPDATES AS OF AUGUST 24, 2009:

A. VEBA General Information

New Name “UAW Retiree Medical Trust”
Effective Date: January 1, 2010
Tax Exempt
To provide secure and continual coverage. Funding strength will determine coverage available
VEBA will have two divisions:

A. Operations Staff

B. Investment Staff

Eleven (11) Trustees to Administer VEBA

A. Bob Naftaly, Chairperson

B. Five (5) UAW Trustees will be President Gettelfinger, Vice Presidents Bob King, General Holiefield, Cal Rapson and Jim Settles

Hewitt and Associates will handle GM and Chrysler

A. Hewitt currently handles Chrysler

B. Affiliated Computer Service (ACS) handles Ford’s VEBA

B. Eligibility Rules

No change on eligibility
Establish a Call Center (Retiree Health Care Connect) by January 1, 2010 open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST
Call Center to be in Charlotte, NC. Service returned to America from India. All service will be done in America.
No PIN number needed for calls
Will need to know last four (4) digits of your SS#, date of birth, zip code
No HIPPA requirements. Anyone can call to help our retirees. A few situations may still require Power of Attorney.
Internet Services will be established by May 1, 2010 to handle the following:

1. Enrollment

2. Dependents

3. Address Changes

4. Payment info (monthly contribution)

5. Routine inquiries

C. Retiree will stay with their current carrier

· HMO offerings will be made on May 1, 2010 by geographic area where available

· New ID cards will be sent to retirees in early December

· Current carrier will be maintained

· No documentation will be needed to add dependents

· VEBA Administration will have separate dependent audit

· COBRA will be offered for dependents removed

· All disabled children enrolled will be reviewed

D. Payment Information

Plan Payments (deductions) can be made through your pension programs. If you are not currently signed up for automatic payment (deduction), we encourage you to do so. If you are not sure that you have the automatic deduction, look on your pension payment stub under deductions, it should show medical with a $dollar$ amount. That means that you are enrolled.
Those who do not have automatic payroll deduction will be invoiced in January 2010 for January and February. If you would like to join the automatic payment (deduction) plan, you can call 1-800-489-4646 and select the “medical” prompt. You can then tell them that you want your healthcare payments taken from your pension check.
Again, we encourage you to sign up for automatic pension deduction. If you miss a payment for any reason, your coverage will be dropped.
All active members considering retirement must enroll 90 days prior to retirement to avoid loss of coverage.

E. Summation of VEBA

Notices will be sent to all retirees in early November to introduce you to the VEBA
New ID cards (same carrier as your currently have) will be sent in early December
Summary Plan Description (SPD) will be sent to retirees in December 2009
Plan starts January 1, 2010 (Call Center will be open Saturday, January 2 and Sunday, January 3, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to handle questions and enrollments)
Internet Services to start May 1, 2010

NEXT MEETING: Our next regular Retirees Membership Meeting will be held on Monday, November 2, 2009, 11:00 a.m. at the Metroplex in Liberty. We will be voting on whether to move to a new location or stay at the Metroplex. See You There.

CHRISTMAS DINNER/DANCE: Tickets are on sale for the Christmas Dinner and Dance to be held on Sunday, December 6, 2009, at the Metroplex. You can purchase your ticket at the union hall or at our next membership meeting. Cost is $10.00 per person. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. Dinner is served at 6:00 p.m. Cash bar.

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10/13/2009