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2008 BENEFITS OPEN ENROLLMENT
By Pete Trinidad, Vice President & Chairman Insurance
It’s that time of the year again, open enrollment is upon us. Open enrollment will run from October 2 to November 16, 2007, all elections or changes made will become effective January 1, 2008.
By now you should have received an enrollment package if not contact our HR department at 787-4300 to get one.
As always if you don’t need to make any changes no action is necessary.
Note: Participation in the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) requires that you enroll each and every year. Your 2007 FSA election will not roll over to 2008. If you have not participated in this benefit in the past I suggest that you become familiar with it.
Once you understand it and see how easy it is to use you will want to use it all the time. Here is a brief description.
A flexible spending account is a benefit that allows you to pay for certain noncovered medical expenses and certain over the counter items with pre-tax income. FSA’s reduce taxable income and increase take home pay. Your FSA contributions are based on probable expenses, so calculate carefully you may want to contribute on the low side for the first year or two until you get the hang of it. Once you enroll and make an election and decide how much money you want to put in your account you have until December 31st to make any necessary changes to the dollar amount January 1, 2008 you’re locked in, these contributions must be used for services incurred in 2008.
You will receive a debit card that can be used at the time of purchase or services, as long as they can accept a debit card. If you are unable use the debit card then you will have to file a paper claim which needs to be filed by April 15, 2009, though most places accept debit cards. Remember money that is used from this account is never taxed.
This is the part that makes some of us uncomfortable. According to Federal Law, if you don’t use all your 2008 contributions in 2008, the unused amount will be forfeited (lost forever).
We also have a dependant/elder daycare FSA available to us. If you are interested in a FSA please refer to the information in your enrollment package pertaining to FSA’s or call Fiserv Health at: 1-877-310-3539
One other thing I want to bring up is the fact that the company will begin eligibility audits to ensure that only eligible dependants are enrolled for coverage for 2008. You may be required to provide documentation proving your dependants are eligible. If a dependant is found to be ineligible all payments made for that dependant must be repaid to the company back to the date of ineligibility.
An eligible dependant includes the following persons:
- Your Spouse;
- Each of your unmarried children who are under age 19;
- Each of your unmarried children who are age 19 or older; but younger than age 25, if the child qualifies as a Federal tax exemption or is enrolled and recorded as a full-time student at an accredited high school, college, university or vocation training school; and
- Each of your unmarried children who are age 19 or older and incapable of self-support as the result of physical or mental incapacity that existed before he or she reached age 19, and who is wholly dependent upon you for support.
Eligible children are covered to the end of the calendar year in which the child attains the age limit specified above.
I would like to share with all of you a letter to the editor from Patricia Pudik (Aliqippa, PA)
As most of you know I have been appointed to the Benefit Committee for the VEBA. At times it seems to be a thankless job but its comments like this that make it all worth while.
Submitted by:
Pete Trinidad, Vice President LU 6787
I'm a spouse of a steelworker who used to work for LTV in Aliquippa.
After LTV went bankrupt, I was among the many thousands who lost the retirement health-care benefits that we had earned during our working days. Luckily, we were members of a union that doesn't forget about its retiree members.
After the LTV plants were sold to International Steel Group, the USW negotiated an agreement with ISG to set up a trust fund to be used to provide some benefits to replace what we had lost.
The VEBA offered a prescription drug benefit that costs only $10 per month and is much better than what Medicare offers. Last year, we received a payment to help reduce the cost of our Medicare Part B premiums.
This is the payment that letter writer Frank Mater wrote about saying that he knew nothing about. I don't why he says he didn't receive the notice. Everyone I know got the letter and received the payment.
In fact, the other day I received another letter from the VEBA trust announcing another Part B benefit that will provide me with $300 this year.
What really disturbs me is that one person like Mahr can complain to The Times that just because he may not have received a letter, he concludes that "USW has lost its voice." It's too bad that he didn't receive his reimbursement, but because of our union's commitment to retirees, more than 40,000 retirees have been helped out. Mahr should not have ignored the point that without our union we would have nothing today. Just ask the management retirees.
Never have my husband and I been more proud of our union, the United Steelworkers. We have nothing but gratitude for what it's done for us in the past and what it continues to do for us today.
Patricia Pudik
Aliquippa
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