Some notes about
the wellness of our
health plans
Attention, Local 600 members. (Thought I’d start with a
touch of the military thing in
honor of Veterans Day, and we
have so many of you in our
Local, so thanks again for your
service.)
JIM TOMA
This is a notice to all Local
STATE
600 members concerning our
DELEGATE
healthcare benefits for 2017.
(We should give a salute to
member Kevin Lyons for his ongoing leadership
in securing the best healthcare benefits available
for all NJ State PBA members.)
The benefits available to up-to-date, duespaying Local 600 members for purchase through
our website include the following:
Vision: The VSP vision plan is available for all
renewals as a calendar-year plan (Jan. 1-Dec. 31).
The application and check in the proper amount
can be sent to the Local 600 office at 158 Main St.
Woodbridge, NJ 07095 no later than Jan. 15 for
any of the following plans:
• Member
• Member plus-one
• Family
If you are a first time participant your application will be accepted throughout the first year.
Applications can be accessed through our website benefits page by using the Vision Plan link.
Supplemental insurance: Aflac is offering supplemental insurance for individuals and families
with exclusive rates for our members. These can
be found at the link at Aflac.com to our benefits
page. Names and numbers of contacts who can
assist you also can be found on that page.
Dental plan: As many of you know, this has
been the toughest benefit to get right for our
members.
The reason why is simple. Most nationallyknown dental companies do not want to insure
a group with our demographics and whose
members take the plan strictly on a voluntary
basis. Because we cannot provide a minimum
guaranteed number of participants with an
automatic payroll deduction, and because we
are an older customer base, we become tougher
to insure.
Therefore, we need to find hybrid plans that
have insurance underwriters with a separate
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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NOVEMBER 2016
company for administrative functions. We are in
the process of trying to secure a new admin
group because the one we had been using has
been a huge disappointment. I will know soon if
one has been contracted and will pass that along
to all who may be interested. However, unless
there is an assurance of a better product, we will
not go forward with a plan. Dental plans are
expensive, and if you’re going to spend what
money you have for them, I think we need a
quality product.
For anyone currently using our plan, I ask that
you contact me through our PBA email with your
contact information so I can alert you to a possible transfer of plans. Anybody who has new
interest should wait until at least the beginning
of 2017, and if a new plan becomes available, an
announcement will be made.
There are a couple of other products on our
benefits page to check out and there will be
some updates and possible additions in the new
year. For all healthcare questions, we are trying
to connect you to the best places for information
about the State Health Benefits and, of course,
the new Medicare advantage plans. We had reps
from Aetna and Horizon at our November meeting, and they will be setting up tables at our
December Christmas party/meeting to provide
more information a nd answer your questions.
Additionally, I found that the information on the
NJ State Pension website is extensive and very
helpful. Anybody, no matter where you are located in the country, can call the toll-free number
and be connected with the companies and
counselors that can talk you through your particular situation and provide you with your local list
of providers.
Lastly, we made it through another election
cycle. Some are happy; some not so much. But
this is what we have, so let’s hope for the best for
all Americans. We need the new administration
to succeed for the good of the country. But, most
importantly, stay involved and engaged in the
political process. Yes, the Presidential election is
over, but next year is New Jersey’s turn with races
on all local and state levels. It’s a year that will
affect us personally and for years to come. We
need to know which candidates across the state
stand for fairness and are motivated to work with
us to restore the rights we earned. We will certainly be discussing this further as we approach
the next election cycle. d