Chair Talk
September 2024
On Monday, September 9th, Cheryl Streberger, Mary Pollock and I met with Bethany Beauchine and Keri Rust of the Employee Benefits Division to discuss any changes in the Medicare Advantage Plan. There are no changes in insurance rates, deductibles, copays, co-insurance or out-of-pocket maximums in our Health Plan or prescription drug plan. There are some changes in the Dental Plan and Behavioral Health/Substance Abuse Disorder Plan:
Dental Plan:
The maximum dollar amount the plan pays per year for each covered person is currently $1500 that will be raised to $2000 on January 1, 2025.
For Orthodontic care, the Plan currently pays a Lifetime maximum of $1500 per eligible person that will be raised to $1750 on January 1, 2025.
Sealants for eligible persons under the age of 14 will be covered at 100% starting January 1, 2025.
Behavioral Health/Substance Abuse Disorder: Office calls will be $20 starting January 1, 2025.
Office calls are currently a percentage payment.
There are NO negative changes to our Health or Dental Plan for 2025.
Now that this Chair Talk discusses Health Care issues, I am going to throw in a couple of my thoughts that we as patients, clients or recipients could do to lessen our costs/issues of our healthcare.
- Many retirees have several Doctors/Specialists that we go to frequently. I question/ask the Doctor I am with whether they converse or copy their reports to my Personal Physician? I believe that your Personal Physician should have contact with every specialist you see. Your Personal Physician needs to know about everyone you see to have a complete picture of your current health.
- I try to have my doctors utilize as many generic drugs for me as possible. I would rather not use Brand name drugs if I do not have to. It saves me money and it saves the Plan (Michigan) money as well. I am a firm believer in Generic Drugs.
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.