Chair Talk
August 2020
On July 13, 2020 an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding for Retiree Health Benefits was approved by the Civil Service Commission. The MOU had changes in the current Medicare Advantage Plan that were beneficial to Medicare-eligible retirees. Cheryl Streberger and I had discussed these changes with Jan Winters (State Personnel Director) and Bethany Beauchine (Director, Bureau of Benefits Administration) prior to the MOU being signed/approved. Copies of the MOU have been provided to Chapter Presidents, Executive Board members and others. If you have questions about the MOU, you can call Cheryl or I.
Cheryl and I were notified by Bethany Beauchine that there would be no rate increases for the SHP PPO, Dental or Vision Plans. Physician’s Health Plan (PHP) will be offering a Medicare Advantage Plan for the first time, and the other HMO plans will have some increases and decreases which will vary by coverage level. Most of the decreases are in the Medicare-eligible population as they may be reacting to the new competition.
If you have not already done so, please complete the 2020 Census forms. You can respond to the 2020 census:
Online: my2020census.gov
By phone: 844-330-2020
Last date of responding to 2020 census is September 30, 2020.
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.