Category: Chair Talk

By Cheryl Streberger Effective January 1, 2026, there will be a change in Vision Plan for the retirees. The State Vision Plan has been amended to include the following changes:  I met with Bethany Beauchine, Becky Guyski and Keri Rust from Employee Benefits Division and there are no other changes to retiree healthcare this year. … Read more

By Cheryl Streberger As you all may have read the House Republicans voted on a budget bill which should have been done in July. I have great concerns because this budget is very bad, harmful to State Employees, Citizens of this state and potentially to Retirees. Saying that I contacted Anthony Estelle, Executive Director, Michigan… Read more

By Cheryl Streberger I hope all have been enjoying the summer days along with the heat and humidity. It seems that it is flying by we are already at the end of July heading into August. Our efforts to increase our membership appear to be on a slow train, it is disappointing that many retirees… Read more

By Cheryl Streberger We have a new website provider BlueHost for our www.mi-sera.org  page.  Joy Wolf, our webmaster, did a fabulous job moving things over from the old site to the new. We got rid of some really old stuff that is no longer relevant to us. The site is brighter, and I think easier… Read more

By Cheryl Streberger At the May Coordinating Council meeting we had as our guest Arva Overton, who many of you know is retiring at the end of May. We presented her with a plaque of appreciation for all that she has done for the SERA retirees. She has attended numerous chapters and coordinating council meetings… Read more

By Cheryl Streberger Dear Lansing SERA members, it has come to my attention that the Lansing SERA executive board voted on March 5, 2025, to sever the relationship between your chapter and the SERA Coordinating Council.  The Lansing chapter was the second SERA chapter to join the Coordinating Council in 1975; the Jackson chapter was… Read more

By Bob Kopasz SCRAP THE CAP — SB 1144 and HB 6089. We still need SERA members/retirees to contact their State Representatives and State Senators (phone call or emails) and urge them to have the House and Senate bills move forward in their respective Labor Committees, hold hearings and hold committee votes then move the bills… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 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. The Michigan… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 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.… Read more

By Bob Kopasz 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. If your SERA Chapter is interested in having a zoom meeting with an Optum Rx… Read more