Chair Talk
2024 |
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Well, the elections are finally over. Many retirees are pleased and many are not pleased. No matter how you vote, thank you for doing so. I think we can all agree that we are relieved to see political signs, hear political TV/radio ads and listen to phone calls/texts no longer... |
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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... |
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The October 4, 2024, Coordinating Council meeting will have an Optum Rx representative as the presenter of our program on prescription drugs. I expect that we will have representatives from Employee Benefits attend this meeting as well... |
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The Coalition of Secure Retirement (CSR) has scheduled a Legislative Lobby Day for Wednesday, May 22, 2024 (9:00am to 2:30pm). CSR will schedule individual meetings with your Representative and Senators. This Lobby Day is centered around Public pensions... |
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SERA has been busy the past 5 or 6 months on 2 issues that affect all retirees. Those issues are... |
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Welcome to 2024! Hope you all had happy holidays. This Chair Talk will be brief as the legislature is not in session yet... |
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2023 |
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At our November 3, 2023 Coordinating Council Meeting we had Bethany Beauchine, Keri Rust and Alexis, a new staff member from Employee Benefits give the program. We learned that rates for Health, Dental and Vision were not going up.... |
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I have heard that some Dental insurance companies are not accepting the State’s payments for dental procedures. From what I have heard this is in the Upper Peninsula and the Lansing area... |
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A couple weeks ago I received an email from Kathie Vaught (Lansing Chapter) suggesting that I do an article about the difference between the Medicare “Wellness visit” and an annual physical examination... |
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The Coordinating Council held their first meeting in a new location last Friday the 7th of April. The room was smaller than the previous location that we had held our CC meetings, but the new location is large enough... |
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Based upon the Financial Report from Jane Wallin indicating that we may have 4 years before we face not being able to fulfill our obligations, I propose the following changes to the CC bylaws and... |
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There has been a lot of activity on the Legislative Front in the past couple of weeks. Legislative activity is moving so fast that you can’t keep up with it. Refer to the subjects in Mary Pollock’s Capitol News... |
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2022 |
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Well, here we are ending another strange year. COVID-19 is still here with many new variants that are requiring us to take more boosters/shots to fight... |
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Our records indicate you currently have a flat dollar amount being withheld from your pension payment for your federal tax deduction. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, this will no longer be an option due to changes the IRS is making to... |
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The JEC for Pharmacy Benefits has chosen OptumRx to continue as the provider of the Prescription Drug Benefits for Active State Employees and Retirees. The SERA representative... |
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The past 2 ½ years have not been kind to SERA Chapters and members. I am sure that many of us have lost family members and friends because of the Covid-19 issue. Many state employees are still not back to their original work-stations full time... |
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I have been receiving complaints (email, telephone and letters) from retirees about all the brochures and information from the States Blue Cross PPO MA program... |
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I have been contacted by ORS to recruit some retiree volunteers to help with the MI-Login issues... |
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As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to expand Americans’ access to free testing, people in either Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage will be able to get over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at no cost starting... |
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2021 |
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Most retirees that have email received the below notice from the Office of Retirement Services. ORS has received many calls and emails because of the changes made in the sign-in process for MI-ACCOUNT... |
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The past 2 years has not helped much to increase membership. In the past 2 years many Chapters have not had meetings (zoom or conference calls), nor have they printed newsletters informing members of legislation and activities that will have a direct effect on their retirees... |
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Many State Employees/Retirees may have received a postcard about a settlement claiming that BC/BS plans violated antitrust laws by entering into an agreement... |
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The Coordinating Council has determined that the rest of the Executive Board Meetings for 2021 will be done by conference call... |
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Upon your death, your personal representative (family member or executor) should contact ORS as quickly as possible. We will need... |
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Notices have been sent informing Chapters that I have scheduled a SPECIAL COORDINATING COUNCIL MEETING... |
For previous issues of Chair Talk, see the archive.