Chair Talk
September 2012
Retiree Benefit Bulletins were mailed in August. The total premium for the State Health Plan PPO administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (bcbsm) will not increase for fiscal year 2012-2013. The Bulletin does reflect the increase to 20% in the non-Medicare Retiree share of the monthly PPO insurance rates. The State will continue to pay 100% of the insurance premium for retirees who are Medicare eligible and/or retirees with a Medicare eligible spouse. The State Employees’ Retirement Act requires health insurance premium sharing for State retirees to be in the same proportion as active employees.
A separate bulletin was sent to retirees that are currently enrolled in an HMO insurance plan through the State of Michigan. The bulletin states: “HMO Coverage. For HMO coverage, the state’s share was set at 85% of the total premium, or the maximum the state pays toward the State Health Plan PPO, whichever is lower, with the pension recipient responsible for at least 15% of the premium. As a result, the retirees’ cost for most HMO coverage has increased considerably from the 2011-2012 rates.” Pension recipients enrolled in an HMO are normally subject to a six-month wait from the date that ORS receives the request to change from an HMO to the State Health Plan PPO. “Due to the upcoming increase in HMO premiums, ORS will waive the six-month wait for Insurance Enrollment/Change Requests received through November 30, 2012, for those currently enrolled in an HMO.
Dental and Vision coverage: Dental and Vision rates and percentages for the 2012-2013 plan year did not change.
The State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) retiree portion was kicked off on August 1, 2012. To date retirees contributions are over $2000. I would like to encourage retirees to contribute to this worthy cause. There are over 1200 charitable organizations that receive money from this campaign. You can get more information by going to the SECC website: www.misecc.org. We also have a link to SECC on the SERA CC website: www.mi-sera.org.
MedImpact will be the vendor for the State Health Plan Prescription Drug program starting January 1, 2013. As I receive information about the program I will pass it along. I have invited Lauri Schmidt and Danielle Leutz (Employee Benefits) and a representative from MedImpact to our November CC meeting to discuss the program and answer questions our delegates might have.
Editor’s note: Bob Kopasz is Chair of the Michigan SERA Council. He may be reached at P.O. Box 692, Mt. Morris, MI 48458; phone 810/240-8380.